Customer Reviews

American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire

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I just love reading historical books about companies that I am interested in investing. Readers can learn from the past in order to understand why a company does what it does. Everything has a reason. It was interesting to find out that American Express started in the travel business where it gained access to affluent individuals. Up to this day, users of American Express are people who are more affluent than average. Because on average these customers spend more money than customers using Visa or MasterCard, American Express can charge merchants more than Visa or MasterCard. This creates a competitive advantage that allows American Express to make more money on invested capital. This is a fascinating book about the history of American Express. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the company.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

I have read this book about 2 years ago, passed it on to a friend . I would recommend this book for people who either work at American Express to get a understanding of how the company came to being and those who like reading about companies.

It is somewhat outdated but it still paints a picture of the culture at Amex and how it go to where it is today. They were one of the first to issue a credit card and even today the Amex card is one of the premier cards to have. Everyone knows about "Don't leave home without it."

Here is a spoiler:

It once owned part of Federal Express and got owned by Chase Manhattan bank.

This book would likely interest people who want to learn about American Express, its history, ingredients to business success and how this financial giant became what it is today.

Not exactly a John Grisham thriller, this book provides an insightful account of Amexco's past and how it became what it currently is. Certain business decision-making ideas and actions (or the lack thereof) could be acquired (or reaffirmed) while reading this book. This book will likely be meaningful for businesspeople who consider expanding their currently profitable business. Best of luck.