Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-344) and index

Growing up with the country (John Jacob Astor) -- The warrior (Cornelius Vanderbilt) -- Golden grain (Cyrus McCormick) -- The speculator (Jay Gould) -- Auld lang syne (Andrew Carnegie) -- By Jupiter (J. Pierpont Morgan) -- The monopoly esthetic (John D. Rockefeller) -- The mechanic of revolution (Henry Ford) -- Organization man (Alfred P. Sloan) -- Think and sell (Thomas J. Watson) -- The faith that launched a thousand ships (Henry J. Kaiser) -- The gambler (H.L. Hunt) -- Emperor of the air (David Sarnoff) -- Fantasy inc. (Walt Disney) -- The real thing (Robert Woodruff) -- Sweating burgers (Ray Kroc) -- Bentonville, U.S.A. (Sam Walton) -- The hero of the hit factory (Berry Gordy) -- Every woman a queen (Mary Kay Ash) -- Just do it (Phil Knight) -- Dress for success (Liz Claiborne) -- The world in real time (Ted Turner) -- The celebrity as entrepreneur (Oprah Winfrey) -- The paranoia principle (Andrew Grove) -- Standard operating procedure (Bill Gates) -- The bottom line

Here, in a wittily told and deeply insightful history, is a complete set of portraits of America's greatest generators of wealth. Only such a collective study allows us to appreciate what makes the great entrepreneurs really tick. As H.W. Brands shows, these men and women are driven, they are focused, they deeply identify with the businesses they create, and they possess the charisma necessary to persuade other talented people to join them. They do it partly for the money, but mostly for the thrill of creation

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