Here are the 22 books our Rising Stars of Wall Street think everyone should read
We asked our Rising Stars of Wall Street to recommend a book to our readers and their selections range from business "how-to" classics to memoirs about surfing, from biographies of John Adams to quantitative explorations of soccer.
The full selection of 22 books, and the stars' comments about them, are below.
And don't forget to read our list of the next crop of Wall Street leaders.
"Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" by Edwin Lefevre
Rising Star: Adam Parker, founder, Center Lake Capital
The 1923 novel that has been a must-read for Wall Street titans for decades is something Parker bonded over with his old boss, billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller.
The book is a fictional tale about a trader before the Great Depression, but Parker said it's a great insight "into the psychology behind managing money."
"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap ... And Others Don't" by Jim Collins
Rising Star: Evan Feinberg, investor, Tiger Global
Feinberg, who invests in early-stage companies at billionaire Chase Coleman's hedge fund, recommends people read Jim Collins' 2001 book "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap ... And Others Don't."
The book articulates the principles shared by successful companies and executives better than any other novel or article, said Feinberg.
"Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice" by Bill Browder
Rising Star: Becky Baker, portfolio manager, Fidelity Investments
Baker says that Browder's book, about investing in Russia in the 1990s, has more than just lessons about how to pick stocks.
"He was an investor who invested in Russia in the 90s. The book is like a spy novel because he gets on the wrong side of Putin. It's total chaos. What resonated with me was that Bill's fund was up eight times and then down 90% and then up 12 times. It's good to have a strong stomach and not get complacent about stocks and markets. It definitely will keep you on your toes."
"Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike" by Phil Knight
Rising Star: Samantha Tortora, head of investor relations, BlackRock
"Coming from a founder-led company like BlackRock, the book's connection to purpose and passion behind it really resonated with me. I really enjoyed that, not just as a business read but as a personal read."
"Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust" by Edgar and Peter Schein
Rising Star: Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, portfolio manager, MacKay Shields
"There are a lot of people who think leadership is mandated or directed because of some organizational hierarchy that fits on an organizational structure page, and I don't find those people to be very successful. This book really homes in on that. It's about building trust."
"When you partner with people and recognize what they bring to the table, and even if you're their boss, they may bring along more to the table than you do. If you recognize that, you'll be wildly more successful than just saying, 'well, I'm your boss.'"
"Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" by Ashlee Vance
Rising Star: Gal Krubiner, co-founder and CEO, Pagaya Investments
"If you're thinking about entrepreneurship, there's only one guy who did everything over and over and over again. There aren't a lot of examples in history story where you can take someone who built the company and did it again, not just once. It's a repeatable process. It means he cracked the math. If young entrepreneurs can go and read this book and learn three things about someone they haven't even met, it's worth the time."
"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho
Rising Star: Jarrid Tingle, co-founder, Harlem Capital Partners
"One of the main themes is that if you're on your right path and you verbalize what you're doing, the universe will conspire to help you. That's what we've been seeing, because Harlem Capital started out as idea. But once we literally were bold and bullish and confident, even if it didn't make sense on paper initially, we found that people that will empower you and push you on your journey."
"Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World" by Adam Tooze
Rising Star: Jonathan Bailey, head of ESG investing, Neuberger Berman
"What I like about it is he links the European debt crisis and the subprime crisis here. He has perspective on how the financial crisis unwound across the following few years. It's reasonably political – he's quite left-wing, but it's interesting."
Here are the 22 books our Rising Stars of Wall Street think everyone should read
Rising Star: Chloe Duanshi, head of quantitative research, Rockefeller Capital Management
"I love fiction. The Goldfinch is a love song to New York City, a city I love, and the agonies you go through growing up. It's incredible."
"John Adams" by David McCullough
Rising Star: Ivan Brown, head of options, NYSE Group
"A pretty amazingly complicated guy. Well-read, accomplished politician in a number of different ways, but also an interesting personality to say the least. ... The nice thing about historical biographies, it gives you that insight and what motivates those people and hopefully you take away something from each one. Hopefully how to be a better person in some ways and how to either better be aware of your own weaknesses or not to embrace the weaknesses of others."
"The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy" by Dani Rodrick
Rising Star: Jonathan Bailey, head of ESG, Neuberger Berman
"This book was written by one of my old professors actually from Holland. He has this theory that a country cannot have all three of national sovereignty, democracy and hyperglobalization. Think about some of the Brexit discussion, some of the issues that we're having in the US right now around trade – you could argue that this book, which was written in 2011 and I read when I was at Harvard — was actually quite prescient."
"Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcom Gladwell
Rising Star: Henri Pierre-Jacques, co-founder, Harlem Capital
"I wrote my Harvard Business School essay about it, and it's one of the few books I really like. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who think they are where they are because of them. That book spoke to my heart."
"It's being mindful that it requires more than you – it takes a village. I thought that book was just very well done. I'm a data person. I think data drives decisions, which is why I used it in my HBS essay and why I think I am where I am today."
"Factfulness" by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Ann Rosling Rönnlund
Rising Star: Ivan Brown, head of options, NYSE
"It just talks about the way in which human beings interpret data and think about the world...how your biases can shape the way in which you interpret data. It's about being aware of those biases, and how you create objectivity for yourself."
"Principles" by Ray Dalio
Rising Star: Jennifer Lee, vice president, Edison Partners
"I have read that book about 10 times. I just have to name it because it is one of those things...I think it is an amazing book."
"The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers" by Ben Horowitz
Rising Star: Justin Zhen, cofounder, Thinknum
"It's his story of building a very large startup from scratch, which was pretty inspiring. He is somebody I look up to."
"Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone" by Satya Nadella
Rising Star: Ashley Serrao, head of US corporate development and investor relations, Tradeweb
"What resonated with me is it is a very personal book. From the standpoint you really learn a lot about Satya as a person. But then also, the bulk of the book is about the future of technology and the way Microsoft handed over the torch from Bill Gates to Satya and the challenges he confronted. A lot of it came down to culture and reinvigorating the Microsoft culture. I just found the book to be very informative and also very inspirational."
"Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" by J.D. Vance
Rising Star: Ivan Brown, NYSE Group's head of options
"Just to have exposure to a different group of people in terms of the way in which they think about the world and their upbringing."
"Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Spain, Germany, and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia - and Even Iraq - Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport" by Simon Kuper
Rising Star: Jonathan Bailey, head of ESG investing, Neuberger Berman
"It's worth reading if you're British or like football. He basically just runs regressions to work out who should win the World Cup. And the answer is actually the USA — they should win this World Cup and then the next."
"Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life" by William Finnegan
Rising Star: Peter Yongvanich, head of US institutional equity derivatives sales, UBS
"A few years ago I fell in love with the sport of surfing. William Finnegan gives us a glimpse into the ever ambitious mind of a surfer as he chases waves across multiple continents, his addiction intensifying with each great ride. I particularly related to the author's attempts to find a balance among his passions — family, work and surf and illustrates how harmony among all these passions enriched each one individually.
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change" by Stephen Covey
Rising Star: Jarrid Tingle, co-founder, Harlem Capital Partners
"I read that book on a plane when I was in private equity and it changed the way that I looked at everything‚ including the way I was looking at my downtime, the way I was looking at my productivity. I think that kind of was the beginning of starting a fire that allowed me to work at a high level through Harlem Capital."
"The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity" by Nancy Gibbs
Rising star: Amanda Deckelman, director in short rates sales, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
"Generally, my favorite books are historical non-fiction and biographies, particularly about relatively unknown happenings and how they impacted the course of history. I really enjoyed The Presidents Club by Nancy Gibbs, which talks about what US presidents since Hoover have done in their 'post-presidential' lives. It was interesting learning about the relationships among them — regardless of party, and how they have formed alliances in trying moments."
"Scar Tissue" by Anthony Kiedis
Rising Star: Sam Powell, principal at Gamut Capital Management
"I really enjoyed Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis, the Red Hot Chili Pepper's lead singer. It took me so far out of my daily life to see this guy's rock star life in their eyes."