Yahoo Autos 30 books that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates recommend you read
Many executives say they've learned valuable lessons on business from books.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates are no exception. They've recommended many over the years, from biographies to sci-fi novels.
Here are 30 books they say taught them a lot about business, leadership, and the forces shaping our world.
You learn by doing — but you can also learn a lot by reading.
Many influential business figures, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates say they've learned some of the most important lessons in their lives from books.
They've recommended countless books over the years that they credit with strengthening their business acumen and teaching them about leadership.
Here are 30 books recommended by Musk, Bezos, and Gates to add to your reading list:
Some of Bezos' favorite books were instrumental to the creation of products and services like the Kindle and Amazon Web Services.
"The Innovator's Solution"
This book on innovation explains how companies can become disruptors. It's one of three books Bezos made his top executives read one summer to map out Amazon's trajectory.
"The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement"
Also on that list was "The Goal," in which Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox examine the theory of constraints from a management perspective.
"The Effective Executive"
The final book on Bezos' reading list for senior managers, "The Effective Executive" lays out habits of successful executives, like time management and effective decision-making.
"Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies"
This book draws on six years of research from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business that looks into what separates exceptional companies from their competitors. Bezos has said it's his "favorite business book."
"The Remains of the Day"
This Kazuo Ishiguro novel tells of an English butler in wartime England who begins to question his lifelong loyalty to his employer while on a vacation.
Bezos has said of the book, "Before reading it, I didn't think a perfect novel was possible."
"The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable"
Nassim Nicholas Taleb popularized the term "black swan" with this book, in which he defines such events as highly improbable, unpredictable, and impactful.
"Sam Walton: Made in America"
In his autobiography, the billionaire Walmart founder Sam Walton recalls his career building one of the world's largest retailers.
"Creation: Life and How to Make It"
Steve Grand discusses artificial life through the lens of his 1996 computer game Creatures in this book.
"Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation"
This book imparts lessons about improving efficiency based on case studies of lean companies across various industries.
Elon Musk's must-reads include a number of sci-fi novels and books on artificial intelligence.
"What We Owe the Future"
One of Musk's most recent picks, this book tackles longtermism, which its author defines as "the view that positively affecting the long-run future is a key moral priority of our time." Musk says the book is a "close match" for his philosophy.
"Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies"
Musk has also recommended several books on artificial intelligence, including this one, which considers questions about the future of intelligent life in a world where machines might become smarter than people.
"Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era"
On the subject of AI, Musk said in a 2014 tweet that this book, which examines its risks and potential, is also "worth reading."
"Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence"
In this book, MIT professor Max Tegmark writes about ensuring artificial intelligence and technological progress remain beneficial for human life in the future.
"Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future"
Peter Thiel shares lessons he learned founding companies like PayPal and Palantir in this book.
Musk has said of the book, "Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how."
"The Lord of the Rings"
