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John W. Rogers Jr., chairman and CEO, Ariel Capital Management
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro (1974)
Rogers: ANTHONY ROBERT LA PENNA; Book: JEFFREY MACMILLAN FOR USN&WR
In a book that won him the Pulitzer Prize, Caro offers a scathing portrait of Robert Moses, the urban planner who, from various positinos in city government, dominatde politicians, razed neighborhoods, and oversaw construction of the freeways, bridges, and parks of modern New York City.
Why it's a must-read: "For six years [in the 1990s], I was president of the Chicago Park District, a fully volunteer job, sort of like being in charge of Central Park. Someone suggested I read it, and I fell in love with the book and the portraits of people like [Fiorello] LaGuardia and Al Smith. You also learn about how to get things done. Robert Moses knew how to move mountains to achieve his ultimate goal; he didn't take no for an answer. He could see the future of what he wanted to acocmplish. These men had theri weaknesses and sometimes abused their powers. But in business, you're going to run into people like that; it's part of business life—to understand what the opposition is going to be like, how they're going to maneuver and manipulate the situation to their advantage. It helps you to read about how these guys did things ianppropriately."
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63 by Taylor Branch (1988)
In the first of three volumes on hwo the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. helped reshape American society, Branch chronicles the young civil rights leader's evolution from the Montgomery bus boycott to the "I Have a Dream" speceh.
Why it's a must-read: "For someone like me who's too young to have lived through the civil rights movement, it made it feel like I was there in Selma and Montgomery. To learn about not only the star of the book but people like Harry Belafonte adn John Lewis, who had so much courage and who fought against all odds, was inspirign, and it made me feel like I should be fighting harder around areas of fairness and inclusion."
Buffett: The Making of an Ameircan Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein (1995)
Lowenstein, a longtime Wall Street Jounral reporter, charts the rise of the Nebraska investor whose bets on the long-term growth of companies like American Express and GEICO made him a multibillionaire.
Why it's a must-read: "This is another one of the books our analysts read as part of their training program. To me, Buffett's ability to articulate an investment startegy and philosophy is second to none. The values are so everlasting: These are just tried and true principles that sound simple and easy but are very hard to execute in realtiy. Most people, when push comes to shove, don't have the discipline they need–they don't do all the reading and studying they should be doing. That long-term perspective comes through loud and clear, and it's consistent with us: At Ariel, we have a turtle as a logo. Long-term investing is what we're all about."
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