The Investor's Shelf — one person
Sam Walton
Founder of Wal-Mart, 1962; built the largest retailer in the world from rural Arkansas.
7 biographies about them
Biographies about them 7
His as-told-to autobiography is the primary source; the independent books are corrective rather than biographical.
Sam Walton, John Huey · 1992 · As-told-to autobiography written with John Huey, finished as Walton was dying.
Bob Ortega · 1998 · Critical history of Walton and the company's labour practices.
Charles Fishman · 2006 · How the low-price machine reshaped suppliers and prices economy-wide.
Nelson Lichtenstein · 2009 · Labour historian's account of the operating model Walton actually built.
Vance H. Trimble · 1990 · Unauthorised, published two years before Walton's own book.
Nelson Lichtenstein · 2006 · Scholarly essay collection on the supply chain and labour practices.
Anthony Bianco · 2006 · BusinessWeek reporting on what Walton's cost discipline became after him.