Books Billionaires Recommend Most

Based on 2576 sourced recommendations from 55 billionaires. Updated October 30, 2026.

1. 1. Principles

   

   By Ray Dalio

   Recommended by 11 of 55 billionaires

   • Mark Cuban Source
   • Marc Benioff Source
   • Kevin Systrom Source
   • Howard S. Marks Source
   • Dustin Moskovitz Source
   • Drew Houston Source
   • Bill Gates Source
   • Austen Allred Source
   • Jamie Dimon Source
   • Michael Bloomberg Source
   • Stephen A. Schwarzman Source

   Ray Dalio has provided me with invaluable guidance and insights that are now available to you in Principles.

   Source

2. 2. Sapiens

   

   By Yuval Noah Harari

   Recommended by 9 of 55 billionaires

   • Vinod Khosla Source
   • Richard Branson Source
   • Ray Dalio Source
   • Melinda French Gates Source
   • Mark Zuckerberg Source
   • Kishore Biyani Source
   • Daniel Ek Source
   • Changpeng Zhao Source
   • Bill Gates Source

   Not that I agree with all of it, but it is still mind-bending speculation about our future as a follow-up to a previous favorite, Sapiens.

   Source

3. 3. Only the Paranoid Survive

   

   By Andrew Grove

   Recommended by 8 of 55 billionaires

   • Vinod Khosla Source
   • Jamie Dimon Source
   • Bill Gates Source
   • Ben Horowitz Source
   • Warren Buffett Source
   • Charlie Munger Source
   • Jensen Huang Source
   • Steve Jobs Source

   I think Andy Grove is a great business leader. His recent book, Only the Paranoid Survive... that basic theme is in the culture of Microsoft, to wake up every day and say, 'What are we missing?' And so I thought he did a very good job of articulating that.

   Source

4. 4. High Output Management

   

   By Andrew Grove

   Recommended by 7 of 55 billionaires

   • Larry Ellison Source
   • Drew Houston Source
   • Brian Chesky Source
   • Brian Armstrong Source
   • Ben Horowitz Source
   • Jensen Huang Source
   • Mark Zuckerberg Source

   Andy Grove’s classic book on management. Surprisingly, I found I was already using many of the management ideas in this book (1:1, OKRs, etc) which is a testament to just how influential this book is.

   Source

5. 5. Snow Crash

   

   By Neal Stephenson

   Recommended by 7 of 55 billionaires

   • Sergey Brin Source
   • Larry Page Source
   • Cameron Winklevoss Source
   • Austen Allred Source
   • Mark Zuckerberg Source
   • Jack Dorsey Source
   • Bill Gates Source

   anyone who's interested in this space would read Ready Player One and Snow Crash. I think Rainbow's End is one that is maybe not as commonly cited, but I think is maybe the augmented reality sort of equivalent of some of the seminal works that talk about virtual reality.

   Source

6. 6. The Bible

   

   By Unknown/Other

   Recommended by 5 of 55 billionaires

   • Donald Trump Source
   • Oprah Winfrey Source
   • Mark Zuckerberg Source
   • Michael Bloomberg Source
   • Bill Gates Source

   All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It's my favorite book.

   Source

7. 7. Zero to One

   

   By Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

   Recommended by 5 of 55 billionaires

   • Kishore Biyani Source
   • Dustin Moskovitz Source
   • Mark Zuckerberg Source
   • Patrick Collison Source
   • Elon Musk Source

   This book delivers completely new and refreshing ideas on how to create value in the world.

   Source

8. 8. The Hard Thing About Hard Things

   

   By Ben Horowitz

   Recommended by 5 of 55 billionaires

   • Fred Wilson Source
   • Dustin Moskovitz Source
   • Drew Houston Source
   • Larry Page Source
   • Mark Zuckerberg Source

   Ben's book is a great read — with uncomfortable truths about entrepreneurship and how to lead to a company. It's also an inspiring story of a business rebirth through sheer willpower.

   Source

9. 9. Shoe Dog

   

   By Phil Knight

   Recommended by 5 of 55 billionaires

   • Warren Buffett Source
   • Brian Armstrong Source
   • Bill Gates Source
   • Austen Allred Source
   • Stephen A. Schwarzman Source

   Memoir by the Nike founder and CEO, Phil Knight.

   Source

10. 10. The Innovator's Dilemma

    

    By Clayton Christensen

    Recommended by 5 of 55 billionaires

    • Mark Cuban Source
    • Drew Houston Source
    • Ben Horowitz Source
    • Jensen Huang Source
    • Steve Jobs Source

    Number two, I really loved Innovator's Dilemma

    Source

11. 11. 1984

    

    By George Orwell

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Richard Branson Source
    • Vinod Khosla Source
    • Elon Musk Source
    • Steve Jobs Source

    Memories! Was required reading (along with Kafka) in undergraduate engineering school

    Source

12. 12. Guns, Germs, and Steel

    

    By Jared Diamond

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Jamie Dimon Source
    • Daniel Ek Source
    • Bill Gates Source
    • Charlie Munger Source

    Diamond's best-known book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, had a profound effect on the way I think about history and why certain societies advance faster than others.

    Source

13. 13. Poor Charlie's Almanack

    

    By Charlie Munger

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Warren Buffett Source
    • Patrick Collison Source
    • Drew Houston Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    I flagged a few books that I thought were particularly great in green. (Flagged green on his bookshelf page.)

    Source

14. 14. The Intelligent Investor

    

    By Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Patrick Collison Source
    • Jamie Dimon Source
    • Bill Ackman Source
    • Warren Buffett Source

    Of all the investments I ever made, buying Ben's book was the best (except for my purchase of two marriage licenses).

    Source

15. 15. The Lean Startup

    

    By Eric Ries

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Sheryl Sandberg Source
    • Mark Cuban Source
    • Kevin Systrom Source
    • Ben Horowitz Source

16. 16. The Selfish Gene

    

    By Richard Dawkins

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Elon Musk Source
    • Charlie Munger Source
    • Brian Armstrong Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    Yeah, most people don't realize that the origin of the word meme is the, I believe, 1976 book by Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, in which he coined the word meme, that ideas propagate like genes based on sort of like a survival of the fittest paradigm, only the strongest memes survive.

    Source

17. 17. Ready Player One

    

    By Ernest Cline

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Brian Armstrong Source
    • Austen Allred Source
    • Mark Zuckerberg Source
    • Steven Spielberg Source

    A compelling picture of how VR might play out. People will spend more and more time in the meta-verse (side note: and likely end up using digital currency).

    Source

18. 18. Team of Rivals

    

    By Doris Kearns Goodwin

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Jamie Dimon Source
    • Bill Gates Source
    • Steven Spielberg Source
    • Donald Trump Source

    Of all the books I've read about the 16 th president of the U.S., Team of Rivals is the best.

    Source

19. 19. The Ride of a Lifetime

    

    By Robert Iger

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Brian Chesky Source
    • Bill Gates Source
    • Michael Bloomberg Source
    • Oprah Winfrey Source

    But I recently read another business book that I will happily recommend to anyone who asks: The Ride of a Lifetime, by former Disney CEO Robert Iger.

    Source

20. 20. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

    

    By Richard Feynman

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Sergey Brin Source
    • Larry Page Source
    • Brian Armstrong Source
    • Elon Musk Source

    A way to have a happy life. Remain curious and enjoy the journey.

    Source

21. 21. Between the World and Me

    

    By Ta-Nehisi Coates

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Jay-Z Source
    • Jack Dorsey Source
    • Oprah Winfrey Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    Tao te Ching, score takes care of itself, between the world and me, the four agreements, the old man and the sea...I love reading!

    Source

22. 22. Leonardo da Vinci

    

    By Walter Isaacson

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Bill Gates Source
    • Austen Allred Source
    • Michael Bloomberg Source
    • Elon Musk Source

    Celebrating @WalterIsaacson’s latest book tonight, Leonardo da Vinci, following the life of the Renaissance man and genius.

    Source

23. 23. Loonshots

    

    By Safi Bahcall

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Vinod Khosla Source
    • Changpeng Zhao Source
    • Brian Armstrong Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    This book explores the beauty, quirkiness, and complexity of ideas, especially new and out-of-the-box ones. Loonshots shows how group dynamics and workplace politics conspire against the psychological safety people need in order to boldly share their wildest ideas. A key to understanding why Silicon Valley culture is changing the world.

    Source

24. 24. No Ordinary Time

    

    By Doris Kearns Goodwin

    Recommended by 4 of 55 billionaires

    • Lloyd Blankfein Source
    • Steven Spielberg Source
    • Donald Trump Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    Anything that Doris Kearns Goodwin writes, I read. I love it.

    Source

25. 25. Man's Search For Meaning

    

    By Viktor Frankl

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Dustin Moskovitz Source
    • Elon Musk Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    That’s a great book

    Source

26. 26. The Coddling of the American Mind

    

    By Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Vinod Khosla Source
    • Patrick Collison Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    This book dives into the new problem on college campuses, Safetyism, and how it undermines the freedom of inquiry and speech that are indispensable to universities. The consequences of a generation unable or disinclined to engage with ideas that make them uncomfortable are dire for society, and open the door — accessible from both the left and the right — to various forms of authoritarianism. A good companion read to “Winner Takes All”. Can too much political correctness hurt?​

    Source

27. 27. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

    

    By Walter Isaacson

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Jamie Dimon Source
    • Elon Musk Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    like something like Franklin's, both his autobiography and say the biography that's recently been written by, well not that recently, but in, I guess, five or ten years ago when it was written, the biography by Isaacson on Franklin is really good.

    Source

28. 28. Atlas Shrugged

    

    By Ayn Rand

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Steve Jobs Source
    • Fred Wilson Source
    • Brian Armstrong Source

    Celebrate the creators in the world (even when they struggle). They may be more valuable than we think.

    Source

29. 29. Outliers

    

    By Malcolm Gladwell

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Jay-Z Source
    • Bill Gates Source
    • Oprah Winfrey Source

    Each of his subsequent books—Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath—also became literary phenomenons that shifted our perspective on why humans behave the way they do. Then, as now, I found his ideas fascinating.

    Source

30. 30. The Better Angels of Our Nature

    

    By Steven Pinker

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Mark Zuckerberg Source
    • Eric Schmidt Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    My second book of the year is The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker.

    Source

31. 31. The Checklist Manifesto

    

    By Atul Gawande

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Vinod Khosla Source
    • Jack Dorsey Source
    • Bill Gates Source

32. 32. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    

    By Stephen Covey

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Kishore Biyani Source
    • Dustin Moskovitz Source
    • Richard Branson Source

    It was dad that came to mind when I heard some excellent advice recently... Seek to understand before you seek to be understood. ... Dr. Stephen Covey highlighted the principles of seek first to understand, then to be understood. As he wrote in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

    Source

33. 33. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    

    By Robert M. Pirsig

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Fred Wilson Source
    • Drew Houston Source
    • Austen Allred Source

34. 34. Anna Karenina

    

    By Leo Tolstoy

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Oprah Winfrey Source
    • Austen Allred Source
    • Patrick Collison Source

    For me the clear standouts are Middlemarch, Bleak House, Karenina, and Life and Fate. I would enthusiastically reread any of them.

    Source

35. 35. Getting to Yes

    

    By William Ury, Roger Fisher, Bruce Patton

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Dustin Moskovitz Source
    • Drew Houston Source
    • Charlie Munger Source

    Named on the recommended-reading list in Poor Charlie's Almanack, his own book.

    Source

36. 36. The Tipping Point

    

    By Malcolm Gladwell

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Kevin Systrom Source
    • Oprah Winfrey Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    He’d already achieved the kind of household-name success few authors ever earn, and each of his subsequent books—Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath—also became literary phenomenons that shifted our perspective on why humans behave the way they do. Then, as now, I found his ideas fascinating.

    Source

37. 37. Homo Deus

    

    By Yuval Noah Harari

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Vinod Khosla Source
    • Richard Branson Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    Not that I agree with all of it, but it is still mind-bending speculation about our future as a follow-up to a previous favorite, Sapiens. It’s directionally right.

    Source

38. 38. Range

    

    By David Epstein

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Vinod Khosla Source
    • Changpeng Zhao Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    This book examines the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists and discovers that in most fields , generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. This book argues that cultivating range prepares us for things we can’t anticipate and adversity. We’ve believed in a single path to excellence: Start early, specialize soon, narrow your focus, aim for efficiency. This book suggests to hold off on starting those piano lessons too early. I’ve always loved exploration so this is very much in sync with my beliefs. Every high school and college student should read it.

    Source

39. 39. Skin in the Game

    

    By Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Vinod Khosla Source
    • Changpeng Zhao Source
    • Ben Horowitz Source

40. 40. The Brothers Karamazov

    

    By Fyodor Dostoevsky

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Jack Dorsey Source
    • Patrick Collison Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    Reading The Brothers Karamazov as my laundry spins

    Source

41. 41. Mindset

    

    By Carol Dweck

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Dustin Moskovitz Source
    • Bill Gates Source
    • Vinod Khosla Source

    if I look the last decade or so, Mindset by Carol Dweck is a really important book

    Source

42. 42. The Art of War

    

    By Sun Tzu

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Evan Spiegel Source
    • Elon Musk Source
    • Donald Trump Source

    For example, Sun Tzu['s] Art of War, there is no chapter on technology. I mean, that's, that's an interesting book. I read that. I've read that many times and, uh, but then lots of interesting elements to it. It's a lot of wisdom in there, but I don't think Clausewitz deals with it either.

    Source

43. 43. The Fountainhead

    

    By Ayn Rand

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Mark Cuban Source
    • Larry Ellison Source
    • Donald Trump Source

    It relates to business (and) beauty (and) life and inner emotions. That book relates to ... everything.

    Source

44. 44. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    

    By Mark Twain

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Richard Branson Source
    • Jack Dorsey Source
    • George Lucas Source

    Rereading Huck Finn. What are you reading now?

    Source

45. 45. Made to Stick

    

    By Chip Heath, Dan Heath

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Changpeng Zhao Source
    • Brian Armstrong Source
    • Vinod Khosla Source

    How to make your message memorable so it will spread.

    Source

46. 46. The Lessons of History

    

    By Will Durant, Ariel Durant

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Ray Dalio Source
    • Kevin Systrom Source
    • Elon Musk Source

    The Lessons of History.

    Source

47. 47. Masters of Doom

    

    By David Kushner

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Patrick Collison Source
    • Austen Allred Source
    • Elon Musk Source

    Masters of Doom is a great book

    Source

48. 48. Made In America

    

    By Sam Walton

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Kishore Biyani Source
    • Jamie Dimon Source
    • Jeff Bezos Source

    Said on Charlie Rose (2012) that he read Sam Walton's autobiography, thought a lot about him, and found a lot to admire in the way he started Wal-Mart.

    Source

49. 49. Superintelligence

    

    By Nick Bostrom

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Elon Musk Source
    • Patrick Collison Source
    • Bill Gates Source

    Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.

    Source

50. 50. Autobiography of a Yogi

    

    By Paramahansa Yogananda

    Recommended by 3 of 55 billionaires

    • Steve Jobs Source
    • Marc Benioff Source
    • Jack Dorsey Source

    There was a copy there of Autobiography of a Yogi in English that a previous traveler had left, and I read it several times because there was not a lot to do, and I walked around from village to village and recovered from my dysentery.

    Source

Every Billionaire on Ultimate Book List

• Bill Gates — 486 recommendations
• Oprah Winfrey — 315 recommendations
• Richard Branson — 252 recommendations
• Donald Trump — 223 recommendations
• Patrick Collison — 217 recommendations
• Elon Musk — 152 recommendations
• Vinod Khosla — 107 recommendations
• Steve Jobs — 93 recommendations
• Jack Dorsey — 92 recommendations
• Michael Bloomberg — 56 recommendations
• Warren Buffett — 56 recommendations
• Brian Armstrong — 49 recommendations
• Mark Zuckerberg — 39 recommendations
• Melinda French Gates — 37 recommendations
• Mark Cuban — 33 recommendations
• Charlie Munger — 32 recommendations
• Austen Allred — 27 recommendations
• Charles Koch — 25 recommendations
• Ray Dalio — 24 recommendations
• Changpeng Zhao — 22 recommendations
• Jamie Dimon — 20 recommendations
• Dustin Moskovitz — 18 recommendations
• Kevin Systrom — 14 recommendations
• Steven Spielberg — 14 recommendations
• Bill Ackman — 11 recommendations
• David Friedberg — 10 recommendations
• Drew Houston — 10 recommendations
• Jeff Bezos — 10 recommendations
• Marc Benioff — 10 recommendations
• Stephen A. Schwarzman — 10 recommendations
• Ben Horowitz — 9 recommendations
• Fred Wilson — 9 recommendations
• Sheryl Sandberg — 9 recommendations
• Howard S. Marks — 8 recommendations
• Jensen Huang — 7 recommendations
• Cameron Winklevoss — 6 recommendations
• Daniel Ek — 6 recommendations
• George Lucas — 6 recommendations
• Kishore Biyani — 6 recommendations
• Larry Page — 6 recommendations
• Brian Chesky — 5 recommendations
• Dario Amodei — 5 recommendations
• Jay-Z — 5 recommendations
• Eric Schmidt — 4 recommendations
• Joe Gebbia — 4 recommendations
• Larry Ellison — 4 recommendations
• Evan Spiegel — 3 recommendations
• Sergey Brin — 3 recommendations
• Donald Miller — 2 recommendations
• John Collison — 2 recommendations
• Lloyd Blankfein — 2 recommendations
• Craig Newmark — 1 recommendations
• Erik Prince — 0 recommendations
• J. K. Rowling — 0 recommendations
• Ted Turner — 0 recommendations

Frequently asked questions

What is the top book recommended by billionaires?

Principles ranks first, recommended by 11 billionaires.

How is the ranking counted?

We count each person once per book, using only public people, books and approved recommendations. Books are ranked by recommenders in this group, then by total public recommenders. Source links are shown where available.

How many billionaires are included?

This group includes 55 public profiles, including profiles with no public recommendations. 30 have recommended at least 10 books.