They've recommended countless books over the years that they credit with strengthening their business acumen and shaping their worldviews.
Here are 20 books recommended by Musk, Bezos, and Gates to add to your reading list:
Jeff Bezos
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Some of Bezos' favorite books were instrumental to the creation of products and services like the Kindle and Amazon Web Services.
"The Innovator's Solution"
Harvard Business Review Press
This book on innovation explains how companies can become disruptors. It's one of three books Bezos made his top executives read one summer to map out Amazon's trajectory.
"The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement"
Amazon
Also on that list was "The Goal," in which Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox examine the theory of constraints from a management perspective.
The final book on Bezos' reading list for senior managers, "The Effective Executive" lays out habits of successful executives, like time management and effective decision-making.
"Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies"
HarperCollins Publishers/Amazon
This book draws on six years of research from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business that looks into what separates exceptional companies from their competitors. Bezos has said it's his "favorite business book."
This Kazuo Ishiguro novel tells of an English butler in wartime England who begins to question his lifelong loyalty to his employer while on a vacation.
Bezos has said of the book, "Before reading it, I didn't think a perfect novel was possible."
The Tesla CEO has recommended several AI books, sci-fi novels, and biographies over the years.
"What We Owe the Future"
Amazon
One of Musk's most recent picks, this book tackles longtermism, which its author defines as "the view that positively affecting the long-run future is a key moral priority of our time." Musk says the book is a "close match" for his philosophy.
"Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies"
Amazon
Musk has also recommended several books on artificial intelligence, including this one, which considers questions about the future of intelligent life in a world where machines might become smarter than people.
"Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence"
Amazon
In this book, MIT professor Max Tegmark writes about ensuring artificial intelligence and technological progress remain beneficial for human life in the future.
"Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future"
Amazon
Peter Thiel shares lessons he learned founding companies like PayPal and Palantir in this book.
Musk has said of the book, "Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and Zero to One shows how."
The Microsoft cofounder usually publishes two lists each year, one in the summer and one at year's end, of his book recommendations.
"How the World Really Works"
Penguin Random House
In his 2022 summer reading list, Gates highlighted this work by Vaclav Smil that explores the fundamental forces underlying today's world, including matters like energy production and globalization.
"If you want a brief but thorough education in numeric thinking about many of the fundamental forces that shape human life, this is the book to read," Gates said of the book.
"Why We're Polarized"
Simon & Schuster
Ezra Klein argues that the American political system has became polarized around identity to dangerous effect in this book, also on Gates' summer reading list in 2022, that Gates calls "a fascinating look at human psychology."
"Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street"
Amazon
Gates has said this is "the best business book I've ever read." It compiles 12 articles that originally appeared in The New Yorker about moments of success and failure at companies like General Electric and Xerox.
"Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think"
Amazon
This book investigates the thinking patterns and tendencies that distort people's perceptions of the world. Gates has called it "one of the most educational books I've ever read."
