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    The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future
    Unavailable
    The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future
    Unavailable
    The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future

    Written by T. Boone Pickens

    Narrated by Arthur Morey

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    With a Plan for Reducing U.S. Oil Dependency

    It's never too late to top your personal best.

    Now eighty years old, T. Boone Pickens is a legendary figure in the business world. Known as the "Oracle of Oil" 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' rights. Even his failures were successful in that they forced risk-averse managers to reconsider the way they did business.

    When Pickens left Mesa at age sixty-eight after a spectacular downward spiral in the company'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.

    From that personal and professional nadir, Pickens staged one of the most impressive comebacks in the industry, turning his investment fund's remaining $3 million into $8 billion in profit in just a few years. That made him, at age seventy-seven, the world's second-highest-paid hedge fund manager. But he wasn't done yet. Today, Pickens is making some of the world's most colossal energy bets. If he has his way, most of America's cars will eventually run on natural gas, and vast swaths of the nation'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's oil industry, Pickens is staking billions on the conviction that he knows what'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—yet another area where he is putting billions on the line.

    From a businessman who is extraordinarily humble yet is considered one of the world's most visionary, The First Billion Is the Hardest 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—of vital interest to anyone who has a stake in America's future.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 2, 2008
    ISBN9780739366578
    Unavailable
    The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future

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    Reviews for The First Billion Is the Hardest

    3.5/5

    17 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The life and many restarts of T. Boone Pickens will hopefully give anyone hope that it's never to late to start over. At 80 years old, he is still starting new projects and enterprises that may not even reach fruition during his lifetime, but he does it because he wants to see it happen, and because it's something that needs to happen.Starting as a geologist for big oil, Pickens became an oil expert. He made his fortune being able to predict trends and follow it up with innovative ideas. Unlike most men in his position, he freely admits that our dependence on oil is devastating unless we do something yesterday, and he's got some ideas in the works. Early on, he was a proponent for natural gas use for transportation instead of energy production, his argument is quite compelling. More recently, he's seen the necessity of water reserves and wind power.Along with a very interesting life, Pickens writes out what his proposed energy plan for our future looks like. This is where his genius shines through, not because he has a perfect plan, because he's the first to admit it has flaws, but because he is the only one who says "money be damned, let's secure our future." Since he's not in anyone's pocket, he can speak frankly without repercussions, and he's proven himself right enough times that he is a man worth paying attention to.
    • 4/5
      From a businessman who is extraordinarily humble yet is considered one of the world’s most visionary, The First Billion Is the Hardest 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. Very entertaining read.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating book about his life and all his business deals. If you watch shark Tank or listen to the podcast How I Built This, you will love it. A little bit too much on the teamwork and all his buddies that have hung around for 30+ years but very admirable. The only disappointment is he didn’t mention his children and wife. And 90 chapters I’m pretty sure the only reference I heard the family was a couple wives and one grand children at their graduation. Fascinating business book read