6. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

“All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea. You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself. If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one half of it. ~ Napoleon Hill. In the early 1900’s Napoleon Hill dedicated about 20 years of his life to study and interview 500 of the most successful people at the time such as Edison, Ford and Andrew Carnegie. Think and Grow Rich is a direct result of his findings. A book that went on to sell over 20 million copies. A book that greatly influenced the whole field of personal development as we know it today, and becoming an instant classic. Buy Think and Grow Rich

7. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Aside from establishing the first library, first public school, first public fire department, and inventing the lightening rod, Benjamin Franklin ran a billion dollar empire that produced a book second in sales only to the Bible. When he was not busy, he also signed the Declaration of Independence and United States Consitution, and negotiated the treaty ending the American Revolutionary War with England. Well worth the read for anyone who wants to study successful entrepreneurs. Buy The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

8. The Way To Wealth by Steve Shipside

Since the first publication of The Way to Wealth in the 1750’s, millions of aspiring entrepreneurs have used Benjamin Franklin’s advice to create and maintain profitable businesses. Franklin died a hugely wealthy man and he is still listed in the Wealthy 100: The 100 Wealthiest Americans in History. Here Steve Shipside interprets Franklin’s text for the modern day. This brilliant interpretation of The Way to Wealth Is an entertaining accompaniment to one of the most famous books ever written. A pocket edition of Benjamin Franklin’s life and business philosophies which after two centuries are still relevant. Buy The Way To Wealth

9. Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty by Harvey Mackay

Harvey Mackay, who taught millions of Americans how to “swim with the sharks without getting eaten alive” now dives deep into the art of which he’s grandmaster: networking. Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty contains Harvey’s gold-chip advice, accumulated over a lifetime of business success, on how to build and maintain the network you need. Harvey guarantees you’ll never be more than a phone call away from a person in the position to help you get what you want – whether it’s the job opportunity of a lifetime or a lifetime partner, the sales prospect of your dreams or the career advice you’ve only dreamed of. Buy Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty

10. Getting To Yes by Roger Fisher and Wiliam Ury

Getting to Yes is a straightforward, universally applicable method for negotiating personal and professional disputes without getting taken. Without this book and its sequel, you are seriously at a disadvantage in negotiations and conflict resolution. It offers a concise, step-by-step, proven strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. Based on the work of Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deal continually with all levels of negotiations and conflict resolutions from domestic to business to international, Getting to Yes tells you how to :  Separate the people from the problem, Focus on interests, not positions, Work together to create opinions that will satisfy both parties, Negotiate successfully with people who are more powerful, refuse to play by the rules, or resort to “dirty tricks.” Buy Getting To Yes Well, we are nearly done with our list. What books would you recommend?

John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American industrialist. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company, and as gasoline grew in import so did Rockefeller’s wealth. He became the world’s richest man and first American billionaire. Credited as the richest person in history.

2. Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877)

Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt was a transporation tycoon, and according to “The Wealthy 100″ by Michael Klepper and Robert Gunther, Vanderbilt would be worth $143 billion in 2007 dollars, A current famous descendant in the family is journalist Anderson Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt and great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. transportation tycoon.

3. John Jacob Astor (1763-1848)

Fur magnate and founder of a renowned family of Anglo-American capitalists, business leaders, and philanthropists. His American Fur Company is considered the first U.S. business monopoly.Astor started a fur-goods shop in New York City about 1786 after learning about the fur trade while aboard the ship that brought him to the U.S. Benefitting from the Jay Treaty between England and the U.S.

4. Stephen Girard (1750-1831)

Stephen Girard did start with a handicap, being born blind in one eye. It may have been a personality disorder which drove him to precise, minute instructions to his subordinates in excruciating detail. Although he left the largest estate in the nation’s history, that estate continued to accumulate money from his minute instructions to executors,  enlarging his vast fortune fifty-fold, a century after his death.

5 . Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)

Carnegie started as a telegrapher and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He built further wealth as a bond salesman raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He is often regarded as the second-richest man in history after John D. Rockefeller. He earned most of his fortune in the steel industry, but spent his last years as a philanthropist. From 1901 forward,

6. Bill Gates (1955 – )

William Henry “Bill” Gates III is an American business magnate, philanthropist, and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is ranked consistently one of the world’s wealthiest people and the wealthiest overall as of 2009. He also  remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 8 percent of the common stock.

7. Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-1876)

Alexander Turney Stewart was a successful Irish American entrepreneur who made his multi-million fortune in what was at the time the most extensive and lucrative dry goods business in the world. He was a business genius, and by 1848 he had built a large marble-fronted store which was devoted to the wholesale branch of his business, and the largest retail store in the world at that time.