Showing results by narrator "Ron Baron" in All Categories

For the first and possibly last time, Josh Gad dives into a wide array of personal topics: the lasting impact of his parents’ divorce; how he struggled with weight and self-image; his first big break; how everyone was sure his most successful ventures (both on the big screen and the stage) would fail; his take on fatherhood, and so much more.

What do the most successful investors have in common? David M. Rubenstein, cofounder of one of the world’s largest investment firms, has spent years interviewing the greatest investors in the world to discover the time-tested principles, hard-earned wisdom, and indispensable tools that guide their practice. Rubenstein, who has spent more than three decades in the hypercompetitive world of private equity, now distills everything he’s learned about the art and craft of investing, from venture capital, real estate, private equity, hedge funds, to crypto, endowments, SPACs, ESG, and more.

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.

A Road Well Traveled offers many lessons to be draw from the pioneers of the automotive industry and the fascinating lives they led. Some became fabulously wealthy; others died in obscurity. But they developed America's largest industry in the space of one generation and demonstrated the skills and characteristics necessary to achieve such success.

Kelly Johnson designed the Blackbird, a plane that flew non-stop from London to Los Angeles in less than four hours, outracing the sun and landing four hours before it had taken off, a remarkable feat - and this was more than 35 years ago. Johnson was the innovative genius behind Lockheed's "Skunk Works", and played a leading role in the development of more than forty aircraft, including some of America's most sophisticated planes such as the Constellation, Shooting Star, F-104, U-2, and the SR-71 Blackbird.

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.

Here's a biographical profile of Walter Chrysler, the pioneer automotive genius who established one of the iconic brands in American automobiles and was known as "Mr. Fix It," for his uncanny ability to fix sick automobile companies. The Chrysler Building is one of the most recognizable icons of New York City; the Chrysler name, a symbol of American automotive ingenuity, and the Chrysler story one of humble beginnings in the best American tradition.

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 Charles Nash, an American automobile tycoon who died in 1948 in the tony city of Beverly Hills, California, leaving an estate of approximately $50 million. Not bad considering his roots: a dirt-poor farm boy whose parents split up when he was six years old and essentially abandoned him. Unimaginable today, a court indentured the six-year-old to a Michigan farmer to work for room and board until he was 21.

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.

The great American automotive pioneers were entrepreneurial inventors and visionaries who changed the American landscape and brought us a new national culture. The dawn of the automobile ushered away the ubiquitous horse-drawn carriages and the rutted, dusty and wash-boarded dirt roads they traveled on, and replaced them with cars powered by steam, electricity and gasoline.

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.

A Road Well Traveled offers many lessons to be drawn from the pioneers of the automotive industry and the fascinating lives they led. Some became fabulously wealthy; others died in obscurity. But they developed America's largest industry in the space of one generation and demonstrated the skills and characteristics necessary to achieve such success.

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.