The holidays are a great time spent with the family, friends and cookies galore, but if your gift shopping list isn't complete, there is still hope. Need a quick gift for the white elephant party at your office or for a special coworker or client? Bill Gates to the rescue!
The business magnate and Microsoft co-founder knows a thing or two about business … after all, he is the wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $76 billion. Gates wrote about the best books he read in 2014 on his blog on GatesNotes and gave a few insights into what you might take away from each one. Three were published this year and two were not, but bear with Mr. Gates.
And while books came in fourth place as the worst gift you can give, according to a survey from Consumer Reports, so did spirits, as in whiskey, rum, vodka, etc., which came in first. And so, as always, make sure that the person who you are going to buy the gift for loves books, loves to read and can definitely take advantage of reading these five business books. Oh, and don't forget to keep a gift receipt, just in case.
See the animated video with Legos below and read more about Gates' picks on the next page.
1. Business Adventures
By John Brooks
Warren Buffet loaned Gates his collection of Brooks' New Yorker business articles written from 1950s to the 1960s. "I loved them as much as he did," Gates writes candidly on his blog. "Brooks's insights about business have aged beautifully, and they are as true today as ever. I still go back to this book from time to time, and this year I had a chance to re-read the chapter on Xerox (which you can download free). Business Adventures is a neglected classic, and it's still my favorite business book ever," he wrote.
(Photo: Amazon)
2. Capital in the Twenty-First Century
By Thomas Piketty
There's been a lot of talk about inequality this year. Gates says that he spent about an hour with Piketty talking about his book. "As I told him, although I have concerns about some of his secondary points and policy prescriptions, I agree with his most important conclusions: inequality is a growing problem and that governments should play a role in reducing it. I admire his work and hope it draws in more smart people to study the causes of, and cures for, inequality," Gates wrote on his blog.
(Photo: Amazon)
3. How Asia Works
By Joe Studwell
"How did countries like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China achieve sustained, high growth?" Gates asks. This book has all the simple, "yet hard to execute" answers:
1) Create conditions for small farmers to thrive
2) Use the proceeds from agricultural surpluses to build a manufacturing base focused on exports
