検索キーワード： 著者 "Daniel Alef" すべてのカテゴリー

Elon Musk is the man behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, multi-billion dollar companies he founded. Although he is now a multi-billionaire, his objective has never been to amass great wealth, but to save humanity. Writing in the Smithsonian, Carl Hoffman noted: "He does not laugh or crack a smile when he says this. There is no hint of irony."

Here's a biographical profile of Charles Goodyear, the man who gave the world one of its most useful products - vulcanized rubber. Natural rubber, the milky sap of rubber trees, is not a very practical commodity. It melts in hot weather or cracks and freezes in cold weather. In 1839, Charles Goodyear came across a process that made rubber so useful it changed the world we live in. A century later there were 122 rubber factories in Ohio.

Separating fiction from fact, award-winning author Daniel Alef, tells the true story of Zuckerberg's meteoric rise and his indelible mark on the evolution of American culture through social networking and now advertising. The curly-haired wunderkind rubs elbows with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Rupert Murdoch, Donald Graham, and other prominent players in today's business, technological, and media world and is an emerging philanthropist.

Biographical profile of Walter Elias Disney, the man who built an empire on the back of a mouse. Imbued with an iron-like drive to succeed, Disney pushed, prodded, and pressed those around him, as he did himself, to succeed. He was always on the edge of vision and technology. An unmitigated risk taker, Disney constantly flirted with financial ruin, seemingly bent on a mission to remain in debt while his brother Roy's ambition was to harness Walt's financial excesses.

Howard Hughes was a mysterious billionaire, heroic, tragic, brilliant, mad, pathological, and extraordinarily wealthy. He was a great businessman or a terrible one; the jury is still out. But his life was fascinating and disturbing.

J. Edgar Hoover called the FBI the "Seat of Government", and in many way it was. He was one of the most powerful men in American history and while he was at the helm of the "Seat of Government", few dared to defy him. He was a law onto himself, the self-anointed protector of American security and virtues. Hoover's career with the FBI spanned 10 presidents, eight while he was the director. Trying to understand J. Edgar is like trying to solve a Rubic's cube with both hands tied behind the back.

Here's a biographical profile of John D. Hertz, a prolific industrialist and founder of several famous companies. Yellow cabs are as prosaic to America as black taxis are to London. In 1915, Hertz formed Yellow Cab in Chicago and painted his taxis yellow after the University of Chicago determined it was the most distinct color at a long distance.

Here's a biographical profile of the White brothers who built steamers and trucks and developed a reputation for unique marketing concepts. "The Fight of the Century" took place in 1910, pitting Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight boxing champion against Jim Jefferies who was white. The fight was shrouded with racial tension and gave rise to the term "Great White Hope," referring to the need to find a white man capable of defeating the black champion.

Here's a biographical profile of John M. Studebaker, one of the largest wagon manufacturing concern in the U.S. who foresaw a new mode of transportation. Although five Studebaker brothers were involved at one time or another in the wagon and car business, the evolution of the company from wagons to cars and its enormous success is largely attributable to one brother, John Mohler Studebaker.

Here's a biographical profile of the Freelan and Francis Stanley, identical twins who developed the Stanley Steamers, cars powered by steam engines. In 1897 the brothers, dressed alike in overcoats, bowler hats and sporting thick black beards appeared on Maple Street in Watertown, Mass., driving a horseless carriage that was nearly soundless. Spectators were stunned by the quick pace and eerie silence. One observer later recalled: "It was like watching a pair of pants run down the street with nobody in them."

Here's a biographical profile of Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., a fashionable dresser whose starched and pressed stiff-collared shirts, double-breasted suits, spats, and a pearl tie pin gave him the appearance of a dandy, of a playboy. But Sloan, who built General Motors into the largest corporation in the world through hard work and vision, and devoted the same zeal to philanthropy, had no time for play.

Here's a biographical profile of James Ward Packard, an American automobile pioneer. Unlike many of the automobile pioneers who received their primary training with blacksmiths, or under watchful eyes of mechanics in wagon, bicycle or railroad shops, Packard and his older brother William learned their trade as engineering students at Lehigh University.

Here's a biographical profile of Ransom E. Olds, regarded as the first of the great American automobile pioneers. He not only sold the first car manufactured in America, his company was the first of the great automobile enterprises, a model and training ground for the Dodge brothers, Henry Ford, Henry Leland (founder of Cadillac and Lincoln), and other automotive trailblazers.

Here's a biographical profile of Henry Leland, one of the less well-known American automobile pioneers, but who's cars are top named brands and his imprint on the development of the American automobile industry is with few parallels. If Leland had named his cars in his own image, like Ford, Chrysler, Dodge or Olds, he would be renowned - he founded Cadillac and Lincoln. When General Motors nearly went bankrupt in 1910, Leland's Cadillac division kept the company afloat.

Here's a biographical profile of Charles F. Kettering, a man who always sought solutions to great problems. A philosopher, engineer, master salesman, scientist and genius inventor, Kettering, Delco's founder and major shareholder of GM, gave us many things: electric automobile starters, electric headlights, Freon, automatic transmissions, incubators for premature babies, premium gasoline, car generators, electric cash registers, and much more.

Here's a biographical profile of Henry J. Kaiser, a great industrialist and philanthropist who had a profound impact on America's ability to prevail in World War II. People tend to regard the great American titans of the past as robber barons, men who made their fortunes off the backs of the oppressed, flaunting laws and living like nabobs while others had to scratch for a living.

Here's a biographical profile of Charles Howard who built the world's largest automobile dealer network. Howard owned the famous thoroughbred Seabiscuit, and the story of the scrappy horse is fascinating; but Howard's rise to power and wealth is just as captivating. Howard gained the Buick franchise for San Francisco in 1904 but couldn't sell the three cars. Then the Great Earthquake of 1906 struck and changed San Francisco and Howard's fortunes forever.

Henry Ford, an American folk hero to many, was a man with several faces. He was a genius who revolutionized the automobile industry, irrevocably altered American culture and commerce, developed mass production, and helped the middle class emerge in America. He was also an anti-Semitic autocrat who hated Wall Street, bankers and financiers with unmitigated passion.

Several prominent brother teams pioneered the American automobile industry: Horace and John Dodge, Charles and Frank Duryea, Francis and Freelan Stanley, five Studebaker brothers and James and William Packard. However, the seven burly Fisher brothers were not only the most numerous of all the families, each one extensively involved in developing the famous "Body by Fisher" brand and subsequently General Motors, they were also among the most successful of the automobile titans.

Here's a biographical profile of Harvey Firestone, founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Once upon a time there were four friends who called themselves the Vagabonds. They took summer trips together, shared their thoughts, dreams and visions, and forever changed the world we live in. They were born into simple farming families but set their horizons well beyond their pastures. They were inventive and industrious, and they achieved extraordinary success.