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Boone
Acceptable. Read it long time ago.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
3 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
T. Boone Pickens
13 books10 followersThomas Boone Pickens Jr. was a legendary energy executive and one of America’s best-known entrepreneurs.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 21, 2021
2021-03-21 I read this book not long after it came out in 1987. I was a fairly big fan of the author when it came out and this autobiography gave me some more reasons to like him, appreciate his work, battles with some bad company managements and battles with some politicians who wanted government to regulate corporate "take over" law to "protect consumers &/or investors" (What a crock!)
He was on quite a winning streak tear there for several years... then hit on some bad ideas, bad investments and now no one (hardly at all) even knows who he was (he died in 2019). He was pretty big at his height, controlling billions of 1980s $ assets, which was pretty significant then. Here's the Wikipedia article on him for background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boon...
He was pretty flamboyant in the media, and probably more than a few stodgy, low returns business managers were pretty afraid of Boone targeting their business to be taken over.
As I say, I was a fan, since his style of business liberated lots of assets from very narrow-minded and low return managers.
But as Boone became more well known in the media and successful business=wise, he got more political and far less laissez-faire, and more crony, as I remember.
I am not sure exactly what the issue was (or were) but he advocated government getting into some business at some point, so that was when I started to be more of a critic than advocate. He kept on that foolish path and gradually became more and more irrelevant, but still part of the problem.
Can't say I heard anything substantial by/about him the last 20 or so years of his life. Sad.
So, if you are interested in knowing about one of the fascinating "take-over artists" (or moguls, or con-men, etc.) as some in the media or politics or lame management would claim, this might be a decent book to skim.
He was on quite a winning streak tear there for several years... then hit on some bad ideas, bad investments and now no one (hardly at all) even knows who he was (he died in 2019). He was pretty big at his height, controlling billions of 1980s $ assets, which was pretty significant then. Here's the Wikipedia article on him for background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boon...
He was pretty flamboyant in the media, and probably more than a few stodgy, low returns business managers were pretty afraid of Boone targeting their business to be taken over.
As I say, I was a fan, since his style of business liberated lots of assets from very narrow-minded and low return managers.
But as Boone became more well known in the media and successful business=wise, he got more political and far less laissez-faire, and more crony, as I remember.
I am not sure exactly what the issue was (or were) but he advocated government getting into some business at some point, so that was when I started to be more of a critic than advocate. He kept on that foolish path and gradually became more and more irrelevant, but still part of the problem.
Can't say I heard anything substantial by/about him the last 20 or so years of his life. Sad.
So, if you are interested in knowing about one of the fascinating "take-over artists" (or moguls, or con-men, etc.) as some in the media or politics or lame management would claim, this might be a decent book to skim.
September 22, 2020
T. Boone Pickens' initial autobiography is well written. There is some background about his early life, but the focus is Pickens' time in the oil business. There are some discussions about exploration and finding oil and natural gas, but Pickens' is on the financial end of the oil business. He points to financial innovations opening capital that enabled his company to grow and explore more so than outstanding success/luck in exploration. Much of the book is devoted to the efforts of his firm, Mesa, to explore leveraged takeovers of other firms.
Pickens is willing to name names and settle scores which helps to keep the book interesting.
Pickens also spends a fair amount of the book advocating for his views on shareholder power/rights.
It is interesting that Pickens portrays himself as a straight shooter knowing that he would be one of the primary funders of the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth effort and the notion of "swiftboating" to politics.
Pickens is willing to name names and settle scores which helps to keep the book interesting.
Pickens also spends a fair amount of the book advocating for his views on shareholder power/rights.
It is interesting that Pickens portrays himself as a straight shooter knowing that he would be one of the primary funders of the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth effort and the notion of "swiftboating" to politics.
March 23, 2022
Decent biography of “Oil Man” and “Corporate Raider,” T. Boone Pickens…A championing entrepreneur-style management as opposed to the crushing, top-heavy corporate style that tend to dominate…decent and eye-opening!
December 1, 2022
Re-read the book. A good read by a legend in the petroleum industry.
August 23, 2019
Overall, an okay read. The overall basis of takeovers are explained but little else is mentioned besides brief facts of Pickens’ life. The book picked up in the end but was a choppy narrative to that point. I found myself wanting to finish so I could move on and read something else.
May 6, 2013
I believed in good planning, and if I could accomplish as much in ten hours as someone else could in twenty that really made me happy. ~ T. Boone Pickens, "Boone"
If you want to know the details of how some takeovers of Corporations are done than this is the book.
The book was written in 1987, so some of the information may not be relevant to today; however, the entrepreneurial spirit will still be released upon you as you read this book!
If you want to know the details of how some takeovers of Corporations are done than this is the book.
The book was written in 1987, so some of the information may not be relevant to today; however, the entrepreneurial spirit will still be released upon you as you read this book!
January 28, 2015
Storytelling from a activist investor perspective. Management are employees and shareholders are owners, many management forgets the above and do things that destroy the shareholders value, and shareholders are not in a position to counter this.
Currently reading
October 16, 2008This is a book of his "reflection on a life of comebacks and america's energ future". So far, so good.....what a guy!
January 11, 2010
The Pickens plan makes sense to me...
November 9, 2013
Interesting take on events that I remember, as I was working at Phillips during his run at them. Last chapters are a bit preachy though.
July 24, 2016
T Boone Pickens. I appreciate you and your self mad attitude.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews