false 2445586 3 With a Plan for Reducing U.S. Oil Dependency<br><br>It&#8217;s never too late to top your personal best.<br><br>Now eighty years old, T. Boone Pickens is a legendary figure in the business world. Known as the &#8220;Oracle of Oil&#8221; because of his uncanny ability to predict the direction of fuel prices, he built Mesa Petroleum, one of the largest independent oil companies in the United States, from a $2,500 investment. In the 1980s, Pickens became a household name when he executed a series of unsolicited buyout bids for undervalued oil companies, in the process reinventing the notion of shareholders&#8217; rights. Even his failures were successful in that they forced risk-averse managers to reconsider the way they did business.<br><br>When Pickens left Mesa at age sixty-eight after a spectacular downward spiral in the company&#8217;s profits, many counted him out. Indeed, what followed for him was a painful divorce, clinical depression, a temporary inability to predict the movement of energy prices, and the loss of 90 percent of his investing capital. But Pickens was far from out.<br><br>From that personal and professional nadir, Pickens staged one of the most impressive comebacks in the industry, turning his investment fund&#8217;s remaining $3 million into $8 billion in profit in just a few years. That made him, at age seventy-seven, the world&#8217;s second-highest-paid hedge fund manager. But he wasn&#8217;t done yet. Today, Pickens is making some of the world&#8217;s most colossal energy bets. If he has his way, most of America&#8217;s cars will eventually run on natural gas, and vast swaths of the nation&#8217;s prairie land will become places where wind can be harnessed for power generation. Currently no less bold than he was decades ago when he single-handedly transformed America&#8217;s oil industry, Pickens is staking billions on the conviction that he knows what&#8217;s coming. In this book, he spells out that future in detail, not only presenting a comprehensive plan for American energy independence but also providing a fascinating glimpse into key resources such as water&#8212;yet another area where he is putting billions on the line.<br><br>From a businessman who is extraordinarily humble yet is considered one of the world&#8217;s most visionary, <i>The First Billion Is the Hardest</i> is both a riveting account of a life spent pulling off improbable triumphs and a report back from the front of the global energy and natural-resource wars&#8212;of vital interest to anyone who has a stake in America&#8217;s future. 2452780 2 9 2008 The First Billion Is the Hardest: How Believing It's Still Early in the Game Can Lead to Life's Greatest Comebacks total:78|5:9|4:24|3:36|2:7|1:2| 78 265 166 23 1 1 false false Sun Mar 01 19:10:59 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 19:14:59 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Nov 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 22 16:15:42 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 09:23:37 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 06:14:55 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 06:20:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 09:55:10 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 10:29:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 16:33:08 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 10 09:19:12 -0700 2008
Some of the things he proposes in his plan would make even more money for th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Oct 03 06:59:57 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 07:11:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 07 10:37:35 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 02 20:15:35 -0800 2008
If you're looking for a book on energy dynamics,...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 13:47:28 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 13:49:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 30 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 08:17:51 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 08:28:24 -0800 2009
Also, his energy plan is better than what I've heard from anyone else. Hopefully, i...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 06:11:13 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 06:13:39 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Dec 10 13:45:24 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 13:46:23 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Sep 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 28 07:23:32 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 01 10:20:03 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Dec 15 09:58:41 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 10:00:41 -0800 2008 3 1 false false Fri Jan 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 18:11:50 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 06:43:19 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 20 12:16:50 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 12:16:50 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Dec 11 05:28:16 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 05:29:02 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Mon Oct 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 07:56:06 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 08:01:03 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Sep 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 06:17:41 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 13:32:09 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 22 18:37:18 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 01 11:08:02 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 19 12:36:58 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 16:54:46 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2445586