Books that shaped Billionaires, Best Seller Authors, Rock Stars and Prodigies.

jessi988
Nov 5, 2014
6 min read

Who are the mentors to billionaires, chess prodigies, rock stars, and mega-bestselling authors? Who teaches them to do what they do? To achieve the success they achieve? Oftentimes…it’s books.

The Tim Ferriss Show dissects world-class performers to find tools and tricks you can use to bring you to the next level. Tim’s site has hours of conversations with some of the most successful people in the world that are absolutely free to listen to. Think about how difficult it would be to get even a minute of time with some of these folks. Now with a simple click you will get far more than that, and you will certainly add to your bag of tricks.

But this is about more than a website. It’s about being inspired by the books that have influenced some of the most creative minds in all walks of life.

One of the first questions Tim asks his guests is:

“What book have you gifted most often to others, and why?”

Below is a list of answers from people like billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, etc.. You’ll see several books that appear more than once. Can you guess which they are?

The Ultimate To-Read Book List

Kevin Kelly is the founding editor of WIRED magazine, real-life Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man In The World.”

Favorite book(s):

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide by James Fadiman
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko by Daniel H. Pink
So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
Shantaram: A Novel by Gregory David Roberts

Peter Thiel, billionaire investor (first outside investor in Facebook) and co-founder of PayPal, Palantir…

Favorite book(s):

Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World by René Girard

Tony Robbins, performance coach to Bill Clinton, Serena Williams, Paul Tudor Jones, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, and more.

Favorite book(s):

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E.Frankl
The Fourth Turning by William Strauss
Generations by William Strauss
Slow Sex by Nicole Daedone
Mindset by Carol Dweck

Peter Diamandis has been named one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune Magazine. In the field of Innovation, Diamandis is Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, best known for its $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private spaceflight. Today, the X PRIZE leads the world in designing and operating large-scale global competitions to solve market failures.

Favorite book(s):

The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles A.Lindbergh
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Man Who Sold the Moon and Orphans of the Sky by Robert Heinlein
The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil

Joshua Waitzkin – Considered a chess prodigy and the basis for Searching for Bobby Fischer, Josh has perfected learning strategies that can be applied to anything, including chess, Brazilian jiu-jutsu (he is a black belt under phenom Marcelo Garcia), business, and Tai Chi Push Hands (he is a world champion).

Favorite book(s):

On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English Translation
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway
The Complete Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Larry W. Phillips

Ed Catmull is a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios (along with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.

Favorite book(s):

The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
One Monster After Another by Mercer Mayer

Neil Strauss has written 7 New York Times bestsellers, including The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.

Favorite book(s):

On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Gregory Rabassa
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
Life Is Elsewhere by Milan Kundera

Tracy DiNunzio is the self-taught founder and CEO of Tradesy.com, which has attracted legendary investors like Sir Richard Branson and John Doerr.

Favorite book(s):

Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone

Mike Shinoda is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and one of the two vocalists of the band Linkin Park, which has sold 60+ million albums worldwide.

Favorite book(s):

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Becoming a Category of One by Joe Calloway

James Altucher is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur, and bestselling author.

Favorite book(s):

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina
Dynamic Hedging: Managing Vanilla and Exotic Options by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: “On Robustness and Fragility” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson
Jesus’ Son: Stories by Denis Johnson
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Joe De Sena is the co-founder of The Death Race, Spartan Race (1M+ competitors), and more.

Favorite book(s):

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Shogun by James Clavell
The One-Minute Manager by Ken H.Blanchard

Brian Koppelman is a screenwriter, novelist, director, and producer. He is best known as the co-writer of Ocean’s Thirteen and Rounders, as well as a producer of The Illusionist and The Lucky Ones.

Favorite book(s):

What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg
The Artist’s Way – Morning Pages Journal by Julia Cameron
Daily Rituals by Mason Currey
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Chase Jarvis is a master photographer and the CEO of CreativeLIVE.com.

Favorite book(s):

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler

Jason Silva , called the “Timothy Leary of the viral video age” by The Atlantic, host of Brain Games on National Geographic Channel.

Favorite book(s):

The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler

Ryan Holiday is an American author and the media strategist behind authors Tucker Max and Robert Greene. Former Director of Marketing for American Apparel.

Favorite book(s):

Meditations: A New Translation by Marcus Aurelius
Wilderness Essays by Epictitus
The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Fragility by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Cherow
How to Live by Sarah Bakewell
The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King by Rich Cohen
Tough Jews by Rich Cohen
Edison – A Biography by Matthew Josephson
Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity by Brooks D. Simpson
The Control of Nature by John McPhee
Giving Good Weight by John McPhee
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Ramit Sethi is an American personal finance advisor and entrepreneur. Sethi is the author of the 2009 book on personal finance, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, a New York Times Bestseller, and a co-founder of PBworks, a commercial wiki website.

Favorite book(s):

The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink
The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier
Age of Propaganda by Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson
The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi
Iacocca: An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca and William Novak
What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School: Notes From A Street-Smart Executive by Mark H. McCormack