Books : The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.7622338092
EAN: 9780307395771
ISBN: 0307395774
Label: Crown Business
Manufacturer: Crown Business
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: September 02, 2008
Publisher: Crown Business
Release Date: September 02, 2008
Studio: Crown Business
Sales Rank: 189

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
With a Plan for Reducing U.S. Oil Dependency

It’s never too late to top your personal best.

Now eighty years old, T. Boone Pickens is a legendary figure in the business world. Known as the “Oracle of Oil” because of his uncanny ability to predict the direction of fuel prices, he built Mesa Petroleum, one of the largest independent oil companies in the United States, from a $2,500 investment. In the 1980s, Pickens became a household name when he executed a series of unsolicited buyout bids for undervalued oil companies, in the process reinventing the notion of shareholders’ rights. Even his failures were successful in that they forced risk-averse managers to reconsider the way they did business.

When Pickens left Mesa at age sixty-eight after a spectacular downward spiral in the company’s profits, many counted him out. Indeed, what followed for him was a painful divorce, clinical depression, a temporary inability to predict the movement of energy prices, and the loss of 90 percent of his investing capital. But Pickens was far from out.

From that personal and professional nadir, Pickens staged one of the most impressive comebacks in the industry, turning his investment fund’s remaining $3 million into $8 billion in profit in just a few years. That made him, at age seventy-seven, the world’s second-highest-paid hedge fund manager. But he wasn’t done yet. Today, Pickens is making some of the world’s most colossal energy bets. If he has his way, most of America’s cars will eventually run on natural gas, and vast swaths of the nation’s prairie land will become places where wind can be harnessed for power generation. Currently no less bold than he was decades ago when he single-handedly transformed America’s oil industry, Pickens is staking billions on the conviction that he knows what’s coming. In this book, he spells out that future in detail, not only presenting a comprehensive plan for American energy independence but also providing a fascinating glimpse into key resources such as water—yet another area where he is putting billions on the line.

From a businessman who is extraordinarily humble yet is considered one of the world’s most visionary, The First Billion Is the Hardest is both a riveting account of a life spent pulling off improbable triumphs and a report back from the front of the global energy and natural-resource wars—of vital interest to anyone who has a stake in America’s future.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- A Good Quick Read, one part inspiration and one good plan
As of this writing, Boone has probably lost a billion since the oil/gas markets have crashed and his BP Capital hedge fund has dropped some 60% this year. This is a man who bets big, levers up and generates spectacular results when he's right and awful results when wrong. However, the fact that he's lost so much this year shouldn't be a reason to gloat or a reason to dismiss this book.

His is an inspirational story in that his most dramatic success and probably his most daring plans ... Read More

Rating:

- Worth a look at T. Boone
I decided to take a look at this book after I heard how much he lost recently in the market. I decided to buy the book because it's pitched as a life filled with challenges and comebacks, which I think is what most entrepreneurs and investors faced. T. Boone Pickens did not disappoint. He takes us along on a fascinating journey, filled with obstacles and triumphs. I learned a lot and was thoroughly entertained.

I also noticed a review here for The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book and ... Read More

Rating:

- T. Boone Pickens's sheds light on how he made it and how he's giving it away
T. Boone Pickens began at age 11 delivering papers, mowing lawns and pumping gas in Oklahoma to becoming chairman of the BP Capital Management hedge fund. He invested a mere $2,500 into Mesa Petroleum and built it into one of the largest independent oil companies in America and then overcame a time of personal difficulties by taking an investment fund of $3 million and turning it into $8 billion in just a few years. That's why

I picked up a copy of Boone's book The First Billion is the ... Read More

Rating:

- Love the Man Hate the Book
I've been a huge fan of Boone Pickens since the early 80s when he unlocked shareholder value at Gulf Oil and other sleepily managed oil companies. I even bought shares in Mesa Petroleum and I've mentored someone who works closely with him.

But, Lordy! He loves himself just a little too much.

This slim book is written in first person as though into a tape recorder with scant evidence of any editing. It's a quick read and after a couple of chapters you are already past his Mesa ... Read More

Rating:

- Good Read
This book was both an easy and fast read. Plain speaking conversational writing style. Provides a nice introductory overview of who T. Boone Pickens is, where he came from, what shaped him, his business experiences, and ends with the promotion, explanation, and justification of his Energy Plan. Being an autobiography, in addition to the expected successes, I was surprise to see that he freely admitted some of his bigger mistakes. You may, or may not like the man, but book is definitely worth the read if ... Read More

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