The Best Business Writers

Some of My Favorite Writers and Books on Money

Author

Poor Jack's Almanack
May 01, 2025

I will never understand people who don’t find business fascinating.

If you find people fascinating then you should find business fascinating because how people spend and make their money is a reflection of their desires, fears, passions, ambitions, hopes, and dreams. The companies people create are a reflection of their views of reality and the flaws they perceive in the world that they hope to remedy.

Business is also the greatest competition on earth, a sport that has meaningful consequences for everyone involved in the economic system: investors, consumers, and employees. In other words, you.

As David Rosenthal of the Acquired podcast so eloquently said “I think corporations are the biggest and best nonfiction stories of our day. There’s no Roman Empire anymore. If you’re looking for a story like the legends of old, it’s Apple and Microsoft and LVMH. That is the arena in which people pursue greatness.” 

In honor of that philosophy I am going to share some of my favorite writers on the topic of business who depict the subject with the fascination it deserves. 

Without further ado, here are some of my favorite writers in the world of business.

Michael Lewis is arguably the greatest financial writer of all time. 

If you’ve ever heard of the meme account called Litquidity, Lewis was kind of the original Litquidity. He was a wall street insider who recognized the hilarity and otherworldliness of some of the regular activity in the American financial industry and was able to point a mirror back at it in a way that was equally humorous as it was alarming. While Lewis poked fun and criticized much of the behavior of Wall Street, ironically, he was also widely read, respected, and admired by those who inhabited Wall Street. 

Lewis wrote articles anonymously for years while working at Salomon Brothers before he penned his breakthrough bestseller, Liar’s Poker, in 1989 which was a retelling of his experience at Salomon Brothers during its 80s hayday. He marveled at the amount of money he was able to make as a fresh out of undergrad art history major while adding very little real value to the world. The characters he portrays in Liar’s Poker are so unbelievable you’d think it's fiction. 

As with so many stories told about Wall Street (The Wolf of Wall Street, Wall Street, The Big Short, Margin Call, Barbarians at the Gate), while Lewis intended his writing to be a cautionary tale and a plea to young, smart, and ambitious youngsters to pursue something other than money for its sake alone, for many readers, Liar’s Poker reads more as an instructive guide to landing a role on Wall Street and building a fortune.

Lewis’ best skills as a writer are 1) making mundane topics intriguing by attaching his narratives to fascinating characters and 2) his remarkable knack for being in the most interesting places at exactly the right times.

Favorite Writing: Liar’s Poker, The Big Short, The Money Culture (this is a collection of Lewis’ best essays about Wall Street, most haven’t heard of it but I highly recommend)

To call Morgan Housel a personal finance writer is a disservice. 

Housel is a master storyteller who conveys lessons about behavior and money with captivating stories. While you can find people who convey the same insights as Housel, you won’t find someone who does it in a more entertaining and concise manner. 

Of all the writers on this list, he has the most respect for the time of his reader. As the intro to his book, Same as Ever, says “None of the chapters are long, and you’re welcome for that.” Housel’s writing is short and sweet.

Many writers are known for churning out books year after year to please their publishers. But Housel didn’t publish his first book, The Psychology of Money, until 14 years of writing professionally and I think that’s why it’s as good as it is. It was a collection of the greatest insights and stories Housel had accumulated over more than a decade of work.

Many of Housel’s articles will leave you with the thought “This is fun to read but what could this possibly have to do with finance?” before you're broadsided by a Housel induced epiphany. His stories make you understand topics in a way most lecturers or journalists aren’t capable of doing.

To quote the preceding author, Morgan Housel, “Big words mask little thoughts. They’re an attempt to fool the reader into thinking you’re smart when you have nothing smart to say.”

Levine epitomizes this idea. He is probably the closest thing to a genius on this list having graduated first in his class from Harvard and Yale Law School, worked as an M&A lawyer at Wachtell then decided to become an investment banker at Goldman Sachs for the better work life balance (lol). Yet he regularly writes about finance in a way that is completely conversational and approachable. So conversational is Levine’s work that he even includes filler words you would expect of him in real life conversation such as “like” and “I mean”. 

Levine is also one of those rare finance professionals who seemingly pursued the financial services industry more so for the intellectual stimulation than the money. And now that he no longer works directly in the industry he writes about the biggest finance stories of the day from the perspective of a former practitioner. Levine columns are lengthy and released every weekday. His motor appears non-stop from the outside though he would probably say that the hours he now invests into his work pale in comparison to the time he was clocking at Goldman or Wachtell.

He is not out to impress people with his vocabulary or his vast knowledge of corporate finance, M&A, and the law. He is simply out to explain business happenings in a way that is digestible and approachable.

Favorite Writing: Levine has not published a book yet though I am eagerly waiting on him to do so. His longform piece on crypto is excellent for those interested.

I may be somewhat biased here since Bryan and myself are both Texans but Bryan Burrough writes some of the best reported books about financial history and singular financial events of anyone out there.

Burrough is best known for writing arguably the greatest business book of all time, Barbarians at the Gate, which chronicles the story of the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco, the largest deal of its kind at the time.

It is such a fascinating book for so many reasons 1) the writing is fantastic and told with a narrative style that you would not expect most journalists to be capable of 2) the characters are endlessly fascinating and entertaining (they almost seem like they belong in a Tom Wolfe novel) 3) BATG foresaw the rise of trends we live in the midst of today like the rise of private equity, the debated role and accountability of management teams, and corporate greed at the expense of shareholders.

Burrough also wrote an excellent book about the rise of the Texas oil tycoons called The Big Rich. It’s an examination of what a huge infusion of money can do to people on a personal level and how that money exercises influence over industry and government at a national level.

If there is an heir to write a biography on Charlie Munger it is Roger Lowenstein.

Lowenstein wrote the first biography on Warren Buffett back in 1995 before the Oracle of Omaha was a household name and Berkshire Hathaway was over a trillion dollar company. He is an excellent reporter turned book writer who’s written about the great financial crisis, the history of the Fed, and the greatest hedge fund collapse ever.

If you’re interested in well written books about the most influential events of capitalism in America, Lowenstein is your guy.

Most people know Chernow for his books on legendary war figures like Alexander Hamilton, Ulysses S. Grant, and George Washington but Chernow originally got his start writing about financial dynasties like the Morgans and the Warburgs and has also written a book about American business icon John D. Rockefeller.

Chernow's books are often 700+ pages but it's a testament to his storytelling ability that you will find yourself mourning each passing page rather than celebrating the approaching conclusion.

Isaacson’s subject matter is diverse, to say the least. He’s written biographies on Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Henry Kissinger, Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, and Albert Einstein.

I particularly love Isaacson for the biographies he did on Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. No two individuals have done more (both good and bad) to shape the 21st century we live in today than Jobs and Musk. This makes them fascinating subjects to begin with but Isaacson brings them to life further by exploring their early childhoods and how these men were crafted who in turn crafted the world.

Favorite Writing: Steve Jobs, Elon Musk

Jason Zweig is probably the GOAT of behavioral finance and value investing writing. 

He’s worked extensively with the hugely influential psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, while he wrote the bestseller Thinking Fast and Slow. He’s helped edit and annotate revised versions of The Intelligent Investor (basically the bible of investing that was written by Warren Buffett’s mentor, Ben Graham) and he regularly authors a column about personal finance in The Wall Street Journal of the same name as Graham’s book.

Morgan Housel regularly credits Zweig as the godfather of financial writing and given his accolades, it’s easy to see why.

Zuckerman is another reporter turned book writer who’s written on some of the largest modern business stories. 

My favorite Zuckerman book is The Man Who Solved the Market which is about Jim Simons, a man whose investment firm put up stronger returns than Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Writing about supremely secret hedge funds such as Simon’s Renaissance Technologies is not an easy feat, both from the perspective of gathering information and transforming said information into a riveting book that appeals to laymen and finance professionals alike. But Zuckerman managed to do just that.

If Zuckerman can mold the story of people clicking buttons on computer screens into a gripping tale then he can likely make any subject interesting.

Nick is one of the kings of the financial blogisphere.

His weekly blog Of Dollars and Data uses data to depict pertinent points about personal finance and how to best manage your money so that you build not only lasting wealth but get the most out of your life in terms of satisfaction and enjoyment.

It’s not enough for Maggiulli to take investing wisdom at face value. He digs into the numbers to determine if what’s being said is actually the truth.

These are my favorite writers on the subject of business but I’d love to hear yours. Let me know who I’m missing on this list!

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