The First Billion Is the Hardest by Boon Pickens - Book Report/Review Example

Book Report “The First Billion is The Hardest” is a riveting narrative told by Boon Pickens, now an octogenarian with over 50 years of business and life experience in which he has pulled off what many consider impossible triumphs. The book is an account of his life story from his near fatal birth through to his struggle to make it to the top of the oil industry, his fall from grace and the historical comeback he made this time making a fortune in water. He was retrospectively known as the Oracle of oil and in his book, he shares several insights into the billion dollar deals he is running and his hopes of playing a key role in making America an energy efficient nation. His life’s background is covered in the first few chapters in which he gives the readers insight into his life from infancy and the events and people who helped him become the man he is today. His father was in the oil business and Boon was brought up in an extend family with relatives always close by, he got his rugged determination and propensity for risk taking from his father who he describes as a tough as nails Methodist preacher (Pickens 3). Narrates the story of his birth which had been declared impossible since it required surgery and there was no one to do it. However, his father prevailed upon the doctor who performed the first surgery in the hospital’s history. From his eventful birth, he considered himself lucky and since it was a risk he explains there is no reason why his life should not be as well. His entrepreneurial and take over experience was acquired from a tender age; he begun making money and investing from the age of 4 where he would maw lawns and later become a paper boy; this was when he begun taking over paper routes and ultimately had his first takeover experience. He graduated with a degree in geology and set out to work for several firms before quitting because he through the company he was working for was being too wasteful and incapable of listening to practical advice which would have saved them millions. He started from a scratch and founded Petroleum Exploration Inc. (PEI) his first oil company alongside two partners for 5000 dollars, this was his launching pad into eh world of business and he expanded the company through taking clever risks intelligence an raw hard work that saw his spend days on the roads looking for investors. He later founded Mesa oil, which was one of Americas 20 biggest oil companies and using his aggressive takeover and risk taking strategies he managed to improve the firm’s financial standing in addition to substantially increasing its size and market dominance over other firms. He had invested a great deal in the firm both in stock and personal efforts and his name had become synonymous with the company. However during restructuring the management decide to terminate his services and e dismissed him, overnight he moved from being one of the wealthiest and influential businessmen in the states and went back to square one. Having lost his oil fortune, he had a very difficult time adjusting and suffered bouts of clinical depression which strained his relationship with friends and family. However eventually he turned his life around and using his experience in oil and corporate management he started a hedge fund named BP capital investment. This firm was immensely successful and he gradually regained his fortune making one of the most magnificent comebacks in corporate America. After he left Meta, he decided he was done with oil and he ironically shifted to natural gas and renewable energy in which he became an investor and activist for. He believed that in the same way oil was plentiful in the past but seems to be on the verge of becoming insufficient, the same can be said of water and he invested over 75 million in purchasing the subsurface water rights in 200,000 acres of Texas. Today, he is the biggest owner of subsurface water reserves and his investment worth $75,000 is estimated to be worth in excess of a $1billion. He has also made significant investments in natural gas and wind energy. Notably in as much as he spends a lot of the book talking about his life, he is actually setting the stage for his main argument in the book which is that the current energy situation is unhealthy impractical and unsustainable. His diverse experience on both sides of the energy industry which have been so clearly and explicitly described in the book give make his appear to be a very credible source since he talks about something he understands probably more than most people. In addition he is very passionate about it and from his discussion and description; one can tell he genuinely cares for his country. In chapter 13m which is titled “The Big Idea: An Energy Plan for America,” he develops a well thought out plan of action for the United States to become energy independent. However before he lays it out, he has a warning for those who believe the best way for the US to deal with a looming oil crisis is to increase the drilling for gas and oil. He says that the cost of find these two will always be higher than originally estimated, they take longer than estimated to get into production and finally the discoveries will always be smaller than the producers imagined they would be; these are the three Pickens rules of energy. Given his wide experience in the industry and the information he uses to prop up his conclusions these rules are worth taking seriously not just by the government but private investors in the energy sector as well. He wants Americans to be awake to the fact that if no action is taken soon to deal with the looming oil crisis the consequences will be dire and far reaching both in terms of the environment economics and health. He proposes that the government needs to invest less in foreign oil or drilling locally and focus more on subsidies for domestic renewable energy firm such as wind as solar so they can be inculcated in mainstream energy. To this end, oil should be heavily taxed so as to discourage investors from focusing on importation and drilling and instead direct their efforts and money towards development of renewable options. In his opinion, America does no need a president who makes popular decisions but tough and practical ones, otherwise, America will continue on it unsustainable energy curve and on a road leading directly to an energy crisis. Reading about his charity work, it is hard not to admire the man, he give a great deal to his alma mater and several other charities which he sponsors, in addition he has invested considerably in environmental conservation. He also promotes outdoor stewardship and one of his efforts in this regard is a quail hinting ranch, in as much as it is ironical that he actually has the birds shot, in essence his work is imperative in preserving the quail population since within the ranch they have no natural enemies. It does not however escape the scrutiny of the discerning reader that towards the end of the book spends a lot of time praising and covertly promoting natural gas as an alternative energy source. Granted that he has made it clear in the book that he believe American should develop alternative power sources, one would expect him to give as much emphasis to other alternative energy sources such as wind and solar, however his fixation in natural gas could probably be attribute to the fact that it is the option he has personally invested most in. One would be forgiven for assuming, based on the title and the fact the writer is a man who has made and lost fortunes in the energy sector they may get some practical advice or “secret” to becoming a millionaire. They will however be disappointed if the latter is why the read the book, Boone uses his life story to set the stage and establish himself as a trustworthy source for his primary objective which is to warn America that it urgently needs to become independent on oil more so foreign oil. He argues that drastic action needs to be taken NOW! This is not to be achieved through gradually weaning the economy off its dependency but radically and with surgical precision by an administration capable of making the hard decisions. Despite the fact that his recommendation would have profound implications on any administration which tried to implement them, by the time one is done with reading they will have realized that the man has no political agenda whatsoever. Unlike many writer tackling such a subject, Boone does not take sides neither does he show any interest in the political mandate and affiliation, he objectively states that the issue at hand will require toughness not diplomacy or PR. In his conclusion he says that the plan he is proposing is not for himself as a person but the country at large and despite the highly personalize nature of the book; it is hard not to believe him. As a writer, he does not particularly excel and some parts of the book have a rambling tone to them; however there is no doubt that anybody wanting to gain knowledge and insight on the American energy sector from an insider will greatly benefit from reading the book. Questions 1. What impact does Boone’s upbringing and early life have on his adult life and how does it contribute to his success? 2. What is the significance of the fact that Boone has spent the better part of his career life in the oil industry to the fact that he is now advocating for alternative energy? 3. Why does Boone believe that tough as opposed to popular leadership will get the job of making America energy independent? 4. Do you think that Boone is covertly using the book to campaign for natural gas as the alternative energy of choice? 5. What expectations and promises does the title suggest, are they fulfilled after reading the book? Favorite Part of the Book My favorite part of the book was the first chapter which in which he describes his foundational years, from when he was a small boy doing paper routes. He grows up to be a focused determined employee who is so passionate about his profession that he quit his job out of pure disappointment in his superiors’ managerial skills. There is probably nothing more inspirational and heartwarming for me than reading about his attempts to go solo against all odds risking everything to stake out on his own in selling deals and making 75 dollars a day (Pickens 4). When he later started his first oil company which becomes the stepping stone for his phenomenal success, I felt that anything is possible even from humble beginnings, to me even more important than his insights on the energy industry is the fact that he was able to not only start from a scratch but actually do it again. Reading about his daredevil decision making process and his risking everything and staking it on his own hard work, brazen determination was a very inspiring experience. It reawakened me to the fact that America is indeed a land of opportunity where anyone can achieve phenomenal success if only they remain true to their dreams and have confidence in them but most importantly work hard and smart. I must admit that on seeing the books title, I expected to gain insight on how he Boone became rich under the assumption that it was one of the many get rich schemes. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find within the technical discussions about the energy sector there is a fascinating and heartwarming story about the power of determination and following ones dream. Work Cited Pickens, Boone. The First Billion is the Hardest. New York: Crown Publishing, 2008. Print. Read More