For Profit
Book description
A history of how corporate innovation has shaped society, from ancient Rome to Silicon Valley
From legacy manufacturers to emerging tech giants, corporations wield significant power over our lives, our economy, and our politics. Some celebrate them as engines of progress and prosperity. Others argue that they recklessly pursue profit…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
1 author picked For Profit as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
In this tour de force, William Magnuson provides a sweeping history of the modern corporation. Magnuson takes us on a journey (illustrated with case studies) beginning with the pivotal role played by corporations in the Roman Republic (or societates, as they were known), to the central role of banking in commerce (the Medici family in Renaissance Italy), to the emergence of the joint stock company in the 17th Century (the East India Company), to the development of the modern assembly line in the early 20th Century (Henry Ford), and finally to the corporate raider (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co) and…