Max Gunther was born in England and emigrated to the US when he was 11. He attended schools in New Jersey and received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1949. He served in the U.S. Army in 1950-51 and was a staff member of Business Week from 1951 to 1955. He then served as a contributing editor of Time for two years. His articles were published in several magazines and he wrote several books, inlucidng The Luck Factor (9781906659493), How to Get Lucky (9781906659981) and The Zurich Axioms (9781897597491).

Editor's Note 1. The Golden Gallery 2. From Croesus to Crassus to Cornfeld 3. How To Get Rich Without Really Trying: William Benton 4. The Salesmanship Route: W. Clement Stone 5. Can Fortune Building be Taught? 6. The Stock Market: Playing It: Joseph Hirshhorn 7. The Stock Market: Selling It: Bernard Cornfeld 8. The Scatterseeds Approach: Howard Hughes 9. Diggers and Drillers: J. Pail Getty 10. Do You Need Luck to Make a Million? 11. The Technology Route: The Jack-of-All-Trades Approach: William Lear 12. The Technology Route: The Specialist's Approach: Edwin Land 13. Who Says It Can't Be Done? 14. The Magic of "OPM": 1. The Borrowing Route: Daniel Ludwig 15. The Magic of "OPM": 2. The Equity Route: James Ling 16. Real Estate: Building Big: Conrad Hilton 17. Real Estate: Building Small: Levitt family 18. The Psychology of the Rich 19. The Promoters: Of Ideas: Glenn Turner 20. The Promoters: Of Things: Jeno Paulucci 21. Other People's Wor: Ray Kroc 22. The Mostly Late Blooomers 23. Advice from the Rich 24. Fortune Makers of the Future Bibliography and Supplemental Reading