First published 2008
T. Boone Pickens stands at eighty years old, a legendary oilman known as the "Oracle of Oil" for his ability to predict fuel prices. He built Mesa Petroleum from a $2,500 investment into one of America's largest independent oil companies. In the 1980s he became famous for hostile takeover bids that revolutionized shareholder rights. After leaving Mesa at sixty-eight following profit losses, Pickens faced divorce, depression, and the loss of 90 percent of his capital. But he staged a remarkable comeback, turning $3 million into $8 billion in profit within years, making him the world's second-highest-paid hedge fund manager at seventy-seven. Now Pickens places massive bets on America's energy future, envisioning cars running on natural gas and prairie lands covered with wind farms. He presents his comprehensive plan for American energy independence while sharing insights on water and other critical resources where he invests billions.
Genres: business, economics, biography-memoir, 21st-century
Vibes: fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: comeback-story, rags-to-riches
Setting: America, Mesa
Period: 1980s, 21st-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Crown Business