
Dynasties
Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.91
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Alan Sklar
-
By:
-
David S. Landes
About this listen
In Dynasties, best-selling author and historian David S. Landes scrutinizes the powerful family businesses that rule both the financial and industrial sectors across Europe, Japan, and America to determine what factors can cause a dynasty to flourish or fail. Focusing on three areas - banking, automobiles, and raw materials - his cast of characters speaks to the power of the family enterprise. The Fords, Rothschilds, Morgans, Guggenheims, Rockefellers, and Toyodas (who founded Toyota) are but a few families whose histories contain all the drama and passion to be expected when vast wealth, power, and kinship intersect. Drawing on his immense knowledge of economic history, Landes offers a new reading of the dynastic business plan of the 19th and 20th centuries, with surprising recommendations for the 21st.
©2006 David S. Landes (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Lehman Trilogy
- A Novel
- By: Stefano Massini, Richard Dixon - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning three generations and 150 years, The Lehman Trilogy is a moving epic that dares to tell the story of modern capitalism through the saga of the Lehman brothers and their descendants. Surprising and exciting, brilliant and inventive, Stefano Massini’s masterpiece - like Hamilton - is a story of immigration, ambition, and success; it is the story of America itself from a daring and original perspective.
-
-
Astounding!
- By Lisa Scottoline on 05-04-21
By: Stefano Massini, and others
-
Titan
- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
-
-
He makes Bill Gates look like a Pauper!
- By Rick on 11-04-13
By: Ron Chernow
-
Same as Ever
- A Guide to What Never Changes
- By: Morgan Housel
- Narrated by: Chris Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every investment plan under the sun is, at best, an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past. Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change. With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners.
-
-
Beautifully Succinct Summary of Others Original Ideas
- By Mitch on 11-09-23
By: Morgan Housel
-
Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
-
-
I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Lehman Trilogy
- A Novel
- By: Stefano Massini, Richard Dixon - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning three generations and 150 years, The Lehman Trilogy is a moving epic that dares to tell the story of modern capitalism through the saga of the Lehman brothers and their descendants. Surprising and exciting, brilliant and inventive, Stefano Massini’s masterpiece - like Hamilton - is a story of immigration, ambition, and success; it is the story of America itself from a daring and original perspective.
-
-
Astounding!
- By Lisa Scottoline on 05-04-21
By: Stefano Massini, and others
-
Titan
- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
-
-
He makes Bill Gates look like a Pauper!
- By Rick on 11-04-13
By: Ron Chernow
-
Same as Ever
- A Guide to What Never Changes
- By: Morgan Housel
- Narrated by: Chris Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every investment plan under the sun is, at best, an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past. Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change. With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners.
-
-
Beautifully Succinct Summary of Others Original Ideas
- By Mitch on 11-09-23
By: Morgan Housel
-
Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
-
-
I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
-
The Innovators
- How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, The Innovators is Walter Isaacson’s revealing story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. It is destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution and an indispensable guide to how innovation really happens. What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did some succeed and others fail?
-
-
A History of the Ancient Geeks
- By Mark on 10-21-14
By: Walter Isaacson
-
Steve Jobs
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
-
-
Good Biography, Fine narrator
- By Chris on 10-27-11
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Power Broker
- Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 66 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Caro's monumental book makes public what few outsiders knew: that Robert Moses was the single most powerful man of his time in the City and in the State of New York. And in telling the Moses story, Caro both opens up to an unprecedented degree the way in which politics really happens—the way things really get done in America's City Halls and Statehouses—and brings to light a bonanza of vital information about such national figures as Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt (and the genesis of their blood feud), about Fiorello La Guardia, John V. Lindsay and Nelson Rockefeller.
-
-
AMAZING read
- By jeff on 09-15-11
By: Robert A. Caro
-
Financial Shenanigans (Fourth Edition)
- How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports
- By: Howard M. Schilit, Jeremy Perler, Yoni Engelhart
- Narrated by: Scott Pollak
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best-selling classic from the “Sherlock Holmes of Accounting” - updated to reflect the key case studies and most important lessons from the past quarter century.
-
-
Unexpectedly Juicy
- By Warpedland on 10-17-22
By: Howard M. Schilit, and others
-
The Path to Power
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 40 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the rise to national power of a desperately poor young man from the Texas Hill Country. The Path to Power reveals in extraordinary detail the genesis of the almost superhuman drive, energy, and ambition that set LBJ apart. It follows him from the Hill Country to New Deal Washington, from his boyhood through the years of the Depression to his debut as Congressman, his heartbreaking defeat in his first race for the Senate, and his attainment, nonetheless, at age 31, of the national power for which he hungered.
-
-
The Best of all Biographies
- By David C. Daggett on 12-14-13
By: Robert A. Caro
-
The Big Rich
- The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: James Jenner
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough reveals how four Texas oil tycoons transformed America. Rising from humble beginnings through hard work and shrewd dealings, they shifted the balance of power in American politics. While hobnobbing with movie stars and presidents, the Big Rich also created the legend of the swaggering Texas oilman with island hideaways and sprawling ranches.
-
-
Big, Sordid, Fascinating, PoliticallyCorrect
- By Darkcoffee on 11-09-09
By: Bryan Burrough
-
The House of Dimon
- How JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon Rose to the Top of the Financial World
- By: Patricia Crisafulli
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jamie Dimon is Wall Street's biggest player. Following the 11h-hour rescue of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan, his profile has reached stratospheric levels. And while the deals and decisions he's made have usually turned out to be the right ones, his journey to the top of the financial world has been anything but easy. Now, in The House of Dimon, business writer Patricia Crisafulli goes behind the scenes to recount the amazing events that have shaped Dimon's career.
-
-
Intriguing
- By Jean on 08-28-16
-
Working Backwards
- Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
- By: Colin Bryar, Bill Carr
- Narrated by: Bill Carr, Colin Bryar, Robert Petkoff
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Working Backwards is a practical guidebook and a corporate narrative, filled with the authors’ in-the-room recollections of what “Being Amazonian” is like and how it has affected their personal and professional lives. They demonstrate that success on Amazon’s scale is not achieved by the genius of any single leader, but rather through commitment to and execution of a set of well-defined, rigorously executed principles and practices - shared here for the very first time.
-
-
Look elsewhere to learn about Amazon.
- By JPLFC2002 on 03-19-21
By: Colin Bryar, and others
-
The Ascent of Money
- A Financial History of the World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Niall Ferguson follows the money to tell the human story behind the evolution of finance, from its origins in ancient Mesopotamia to the latest upheavals on what he calls Planet Finance. Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor. Niall Ferguson shows that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress.
-
-
A mostly successful and interesting history
- By A reader on 02-24-09
By: Niall Ferguson
-
The Price of Time
- The Real Story of Interest
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Luis Soto
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the beginning was the loan, and the loan carried interest. For at least five millennia people have been borrowing and lending at interest. Yet as capitalism became established from the late Middle Ages onwards, denunciations of interest were tempered because interest was a necessary reward for lenders to part with their capital. And interest performs many other vital functions: it encourages people to save; enables them to place a value on precious assets, such as houses and all manner of financial securities; and allows us to price risk.
-
-
Big landscape in time and subjects; Austrian view
- By Philo on 08-29-22
-
The House of Morgan
- An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece.
-
-
The construction of the House of Morgan
- By Darwin8u on 10-22-18
By: Ron Chernow
-
Billionaires' Row
- Tycoons, High Rollers, and the Epic Race to Build the World's Most Exclusive Skyscrapers
- By: Katherine Clarke
- Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To look south and skyward from Central Park these days is to gaze upon a physical manifestation of tens of billions of dollars in global wealth: a series of soaring spires stretching from Park Avenue to Broadway. Known as Billionaires’ Row, this set of slender high-rise residences has transformed the skyline of New York City, thanks to developer-friendly policies and a seemingly endless gush of cash from tech, finance, and foreign oligarchs. And chances are most of us will never be invited to step inside.
-
-
Fantastic read/listen
- By Anonymous User on 03-15-25
By: Katherine Clarke
Critic reviews
"Landes tells us, 'These tales trace the tangled histories of legendary lineages....We can learn a great deal about business from these dynasties; moreover, these are extraordinary men and women, full of eccentricities and genius, and they provide a wealth of entertaining tales.' Indeed. This is an excellent book." (Booklist)
What listeners say about Dynasties
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James M. Rachor
- 07-12-24
very helpful for the family office
such a great book very Timely and educational for those creating a family office or in their case a family firm which has within it a nursery of knowledge and skill
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darren
- 03-17-13
Great Book!
Seems the best business books are the based on the trials and tribulations of businesses built long ago. Morgans, DuPonts and Rothschilds are steeped in history on how to grow a business. Compared to today's startups who have wild valuations and no profits, reading a book based on actual hard work was refreshing.
The book covers your obvious families, but also covers some not so famous. Absolutely worth the read and you can learn something too.
Most notable point for me...
The Rothschild dynasty started out in a German-Jewish ghetto living with his wife and 10 kids in a 2 bedroom walkup apartment. That, is a humble beginning.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- MARK TWAIN
- 07-21-08
follow the money !
I really enjoyed this book , if you like history and human drama ...well this book is for you . The book travels all around the world Bankers, Auto tycoons, mostly are featured in the book.see how the human condition is always the same ....follow the money & watch the fur fly !
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Just me
- 12-09-07
Dry
I didn't finish this book but it seemed like a lot of detail with no real direction.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tom Parsley
- 04-23-13
I couldn't take it anymore
What would have made Dynasties better?
I am very interested in business biographies, and I am a huge fan of the TV series "The Men Who Built America." (If you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend that you treat yourself to the 4-part series. It is extremely interesting, and very well-done)
So I purchased this book with high hopes and great anticipation. I couldn't wait to dive in and start listening. After enduring a very slow and rambling first chapter, I was a bit turned off but wanted to give it a fair shake.
So I started listening to chapter 2 with renewed hope. My hopes were quickly dashed and the book got even WORSE than it was in chapter 1. This was quite a feat because I was certain the book had no place to go but up.
The author rambles all over the place and simply states some facts and his long-winded opinion. The book reads like a college thesis and has very little character or personality. What makes matters even worse is the book is strewn with the author's opinions that come out of left field.
Halfway through chapter 2 I finally resorted to listening to the first 15 minutes of a chapter and if it didn't hook me then I moved onto the next chapter. I figured at least ONE of the chapters had to be well-written. I was sadly mistaken and this was one of the most disappointing books I've ever read or listened to.
My advice is to stay FAR away from this book...it is a complete nightmare.
What could David S. Landes have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Become a true author instead of just dryly regurgitating facts. Weave a story into the facts and make it interesting to read.
What didn’t you like about Alan Sklar’s performance?
He did a decent job with what he had to work with. I can't really give an impartial opinion thought because I was so turned off by the book.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
Surprisingly...none. And I'm usually very generous with reviews. This is new territory for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Living in Truth.
- 03-25-23
I was thinking this book was about dynasties.
This book was really about automotive history. I only learned a little about dynasties. I have also already read some of the source material books which were cited. I wouldn't recommend this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- chris
- 02-07-13
Family Bios at 40,000 feet; brief generalizations
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Can't think of anyone who cares for tidbits of bios
What was most disappointing about David S. Landes’s story?
Not enough bio information on the subjects
What three words best describe Alan Sklar’s voice?
Easy listening
What character would you cut from Dynasties?
Rothschilds
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!