Acknowledgments v

Foreword by Timothy C. Forbes 1

Robert Morris: America's First Financier 4

Cyrus McCormick's Reaper and the Industrialization of Farming 22

John D. Rockefeller and the Modern Corporation 40

J. P. Morgan Saves the Country 58

Henry Ford and the Model T 74

Charles Merrill and the Democratization of Stock Ownership 90

David Sarnoff, RCA, and the Rise of Broadcasting 106

Walt Disney and his Family-Entertainment Empire 122

John H. Johnson: Finding the Black Consumer 142

David Ogilvy and the Creation of Modern Advertising 158

Ray Kroc, McDonald's, and the Fast-Food Industry 176

Betting the Company: Joseph Wilson and the Xerox 914 194

American Express and the Charge Card 212

Mary Kay Ash and her Corporate Culture for Women 232

Intel's Microprocessor and the Computer Revolution 246

Sam Walton, Wal-Mart, and the Discounting of America 266

William McGowan and MCI: A New World of Telecommunications 284

The Turnaround at Harley-Davidson 298

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and the Leveraged Buyout 314

William Gates and the Dominance of Microsoft 334

Notes on Sources 352

Index 358

DANIEL GROSS is a Harvard-trained historian and journalist.