What Billionaires Read – Bill Gates’ XNUMX Favorite Books

Trends collected the recommendations of the founder of Microsoft in a single selection

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is known for his love of books. According to the billionaire, he tries to read a book a week and is still working on not suffering from lack of sleep in the morning after a too exciting book. He regularly shares his best reads in his Gates Notes.

Satya Nadella, Refresh Page. On the transformation of Microsoft and technologies of the future from the first person»

The book takes the reader along three roads: from India to the United States, from the new American home to Silicon Valley, and then to Microsoft. This is the path that current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has traveled, but in his work he is more focused on transforming the company than on changes in his own life. Nadella talks about competition, the rise of multinationals, and the ethics of technology and artificial intelligence. Gates wrote an afterword for Nadella’s book, in which he called it “a guide to the future”, and the main value is a discussion not only of the possibilities of technologies, but also of the challenges that the development of AI poses to humanity.

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Good Economics for Hard Times

The book by Nobel Laureates in Economics Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo talks about how economics helps to solve the modern problems of humanity – inequality, barriers to free trade, political divisions and poverty. The authors of the book received the Nobel Prize in 2019 for “an experimental approach to the fight against global poverty.” Gates calls Banerjee and Duflo “some of the smartest economists of our time” who, to our delight, “can write about economics in plain language.”

Robert Iger, “The Journey of a Lifetime: Lessons I’ve Learned from 15 Years as CEO of Walt Disney”

The book by Robert Iger, Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company, tells what it is like to hold the post of director of a huge company for 15 years. Iger led Disney in difficult times for the company: the successes of the past were no longer profitable, and there were practically no modern profitable projects. It was thanks to Eiger that the company transformed from an outsider in the entertainment market into a strong player over the course of ten years. Eiger shared his key ideas and decisions on the path to success in The Lifelong Journey.

Paul Collier, The Future of Capitalism

In this book, an Oxford University economics professor and director of the International Growth Center asks why capitalism needs to be rescued from itself. He captures the modern signs of a new stratification of society and gives his recipe for returning to capitalism the model of the “glorious thirty years” (the period of 1945–1975, characterized by economic prosperity and prosperity for many Western countries), when economic growth improved the quality of life for all sections of society. Gates likes that Collier writes a lot about inequality in this book and admits that his experience and understanding of economics “allows us to predict the future of capitalism with relative accuracy.”

Joe Studwell, “The Asian Governance Model: The Successes and Failures of the World’s Most Dynamic Region”

Gates admitted that he started reading The Asian Model of Governance because the book was recommended as answering two of the most important economic development questions: “What is behind the economic miracle of Japan, South Korea, and China?” and “Why have so few countries been able to achieve such success?”. Studwell provides clear answers to these questions. Unlike the other books in our collection, this one is less of an entertaining read due to its many case studies, but instead offers a dip into the debate about whether a particular emerging economy will succeed.

John Dorr, “Measure What Matters”

To understand what factors will allow large companies to grow further, venture investor John Dorr invented the OKR (Objectives and Key Results – Goals and Key Results) system. It was she who helped Intel, Google and dozens of other companies to demonstrate impressive growth. In his book, John Doerr not only tells what principles lie in the OKR system and how to transfer it to your own business, but also reinforces the conclusions with examples from the practice of companies that have been helped by his model. Gates recommends the book “to anyone who wants to be a good manager.”

Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Make Mistakes. The Power of Mathematical Thinking”

In this book, mathematics professor and science communicator Jordan Ellenberg shows how everything around us is related to mathematics, and how this science helps to bring order and systematize the chaos around us. Through mundane questions like “how early do you need to get to the airport,” Ellenberg shows how mathematics can help you better understand the world and the true meaning of information. Gates calls the book “a declaration of love for mathematics”, which does not prevent the book from being understandable and interesting for different readers – even those who last studied mathematics at school.

David Brooks, “The Way to Character”

David Brooks’ columns in The New York Times are read by millions, and his books are recommended by many well-known entrepreneurs, including Bill Gates. According to the founder of Microsoft, this book makes you think about the limitations and motivations of your own character. Brooks talks about the path St. Augustine and Samuel Johnson, Philip Randolph and George Eliot, Francis Perkins, Dorothy Day and others have traveled to overcome their weaknesses of character and become strong personalities. The author believes that developing a strong character is sometimes more difficult than achieving success, and explains why the former is often more important than various career achievements.

Phil Knight, Shoe Salesman. Nike’s story as told by its founder

Phil Knight does not like to give interviews, so this book is one of the few opportunities to learn about the life and work of the founder of Nike. He started out as a middle distance runner who couldn’t afford Adidas shoes, so he bought shoes from Japan and later decided to resell them. After 50 years, this business has grown into one of the largest sportswear and footwear companies. Gates praises this book for its honesty: it is “a candid reminder of what the road to business success really looks like – it’s a messy, dangerous, and chaotic journey full of mistakes, endless struggle, and sacrifice.”

Mikitani Hiroshi, Mikitani Reichi, “The ability to compete. Economist and Entrepreneur on the Resurgence of Japan in the World Economy

Hiroshi Mikitani is the founder and CEO of Rakuten, one of Japan’s largest e-commerce companies. His father is an economics professor and former president of the Japan Society for the Study of Monetary Policy. This book is a father-son conversation about Japan’s problems, transformation, and major shortcomings in economic policy. The format of the dialogue turns an array of information saturated with terms and figures into a convenient one for perception. Gates considers the book “a witty and thought-provoking look at the future of a remarkable country” and recommends it to anyone interested in Japan.