If there's one habit nearly all very successful people share it is that they read – a lot. Over the years, people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, and Richard Branson have shared books they read that they find helpful and informative. Now that we are all social distancing, self-isolating, and quarantining to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, you may find yourself with a bit of extra time on your hands. Why not pick up a book – and not just any book, spend this time reading books that will help you become a billionaire. We've made it a little easier for you by culling the list to five books. So grab your iPad or Kindle and download one or all five. Reading them may not make you a billionaire, but gaining new insight and knowledge is always good. Plus, depending on how fast you read, settling in with a book is sure to do one thing – use up some of all this time we suddenly have on our hands.
The Classic Choice – The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
Warren Buffet is well-known for being a brilliant investor. He's also got a net worth of $75 billion! Buffett credits the book The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham with laying the foundation for his investment philosophy when he read it at 19. In the latest version of this old standby, Buffett wrote the forward. What will you learn from this book? Well, in Buffett's words:
"To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book precisely and clearly prescribes the proper framework. You must provide the emotional discipline."
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The Modern Classic – The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Universe by Douglas Adams
Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX credits this book work through an existential crisis when he was a teenager. In the book, a supercomputer deduces the answer to a meaningful life is the number 42, though it's not clear what the original question was. It highlighted an important point, which is that a lot of times the question is harder than the answer," Musk said about the book. If that's not a metaphor for the times we live in, I don't know what is. You may not be having an existential crisis (or maybe you are, no judgment) but this is a fun read, regardless. Elon Musk has a net worth of $32 billion.
Become A Disruptor – The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christiansen
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was a big fan of this book about the need for disruption. The author puts forth the theory that companies fail when they stop innovating as technology and their customer's needs evolve. Think about Apple – the company didn't hesitate in bringing the iPhone to market, even though it had a bunch of the same features as its wildly popular iPod. At the time of his death, Steve Jobs had a net worth of $10.2 billion. His widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, has a net worth of $23 billion.
Imagine A Different World – The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
This is a divisive book. Many people love it and its theme of the tension between individualism and collectivism. Many people can't stand author Ayn Rand's view of the world. Billionaire Mark Cuban believes this book is required reading for all entrepreneurs. In The Fountainhead, young architect Howard Roark refuses to follow tradition, even though it means he will give up fame and wealth if he follows his own path. Mark Cuban has a net worth of $4 billion.
A Book For The Future – Making the Modern World by Vaclav Smil
This book by an environmental sciences professor focuses on the costs of increasing material consumption and the potential for dematerialization in the future. It is a favorite of billionaire Bill Gates. In fact, Gates calls Smil his favorite author. He says this book gave him new insight into the materials that make modern life possible. "It might seem mundane, but the issue of materials – how much we use and how much we need – is key to helping the world's poorest people improve their lives. Think of the amazing increase in quality of life that we saw in the United States and other rich countries in the past 100 years. We want most of that miracle to take place for all of humanity over the next 50 years," Gates wrote on his blog. Bill Gates has a net worth of $102 billion.
