Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time

What do Bill Gates, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, Mary Kay Ash, and Walt Disney all have in common? Uncompromising vision, a willingness to take risks, and exceptional business acumen. Not only did these individuals amass great fortunes, they revolutionized the business world and helped shape society as we know it. Theirs are just a few of the stories collected in this anthology of commercial ingenuity.

Drawing on a wealth of sources, this priceless collection brings to life extraordinary achievements, many of them forgotten or little known: how Robert Morris, the preeminent merchant of the eighteenth century, financed the American Revolution with his personal credit; how Ray Kroc used a shrewd real estate strategy to turn a faltering hamburger franchise operation into the McDonald's fast food empire; and how Mary Kay Ash built a billion-dollar direct sales cosmetics company by preaching a message of economic empowerment to women.

Enlightening and fascinating, Forbes(r) Greatest Business Stories of All Time celebrates larger-than-life ambition, inspired leadership, wheeling and dealing, and hard work.

Forbes is a registered trademark of Forbes Inc. Its use is pursuant to a license agreement with Forbes Inc.Jetzt neu als Broschurausgabe präsentiert dieses Buch die 20 beispielhaften Geschichten unternehmerischen Erfolges, die jeder gebildete Geschäftsmann einfach lesen muß. Unbändiger Ehrgeiz, geniale Führungsgröße, Geschäftemacherei und harte Arbeit - das sind die Zutaten für geschäftlichen Erfolg. Harvard-Journalist Dan Gross beschreibt mit jeder einzelnen Geschichte nicht nur die jeweilige Unternehmerpersönlichkeit, sondern auch die dahinterstehende Gesellschaft, und zwar spannend und dramatisch, gespickt mit Weisheiten und geheimen Erfolgsrezepten. (10/97)

Acknowledgments v

Foreword by Timothy C. Forbes 1

Robert Morris: America's First Financier 4

Cyrus McCormick's Reaper and the Industrialization of Farming 22

John D. Rockefeller and the Modern Corporation 40

J. P. Morgan Saves the Country 58

Henry Ford and the Model T 74

Charles Merrill and the Democratization of Stock Ownership 90

David Sarnoff, RCA, and the Rise of Broadcasting 106

Walt Disney and his Family-Entertainment Empire 122

John H. Johnson: Finding the Black Consumer 142

David Ogilvy and the Creation of Modern Advertising 158

Ray Kroc, McDonald's, and the Fast-Food Industry 176

Betting the Company: Joseph Wilson and the Xerox 914 194

American Express and the Charge Card 212

Mary Kay Ash and her Corporate Culture for Women 232

Intel's Microprocessor and the Computer Revolution 246

Sam Walton, Wal-Mart, and the Discounting of America 266

William McGowan and MCI: A New World of Telecommunications 284

The Turnaround at Harley-Davidson 298

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and the Leveraged Buyout 314

William Gates and the Dominance of Microsoft 334

Notes on Sources 352

Index 358

DANIEL GROSS is a Harvard-trained historian and journalist. What do Bill Gates, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, Mary Kay Ash, and Walt Disney all have in common? Uncompromising vision, a willingness to take risks, and exceptional business acumen. Not only did these individuals amass great fortunes, they revolutionized the business world and helped shape society as we know it. Theirs are just a few of the stories collected in this anthology of commercial ingenuity.

Drawing on a wealth of sources, this priceless collection brings to life extraordinary achievements, many of them forgotten or little known: how Robert Morris, the preeminent merchant of the eighteenth century, financed the American Revolution with his personal credit; how Ray Kroc used a shrewd real estate strategy to turn a faltering hamburger franchise operation into the McDonald's fast food empire; and how Mary Kay Ash built a billion-dollar direct sales cosmetics company by preaching a message of economic empowerment to women.

Enlightening and fascinating, Forbes(r) Greatest Business Stories of All Time celebrates larger-than-life ambition, inspired leadership, wheeling and dealing, and hard work.

Forbes is a registered trademark of Forbes Inc. Its use is pursuant to a license agreement with Forbes Inc.