Customer Reviews

Sharing the Wealth : My Story

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In my opinion, Sharing The Wealth: My Story by Alex Spanos is a must read, a gift to people across-the-board, no matter their station in life. I feel this book can be an inspiration to those just starting out in life, as well as a wake-up call to those millions of us who need to re-evaluate our lives, our values and our goals. A real Horatio Alger character, Alex possessed a spirit that could not be shot down by the lack of money, connections, education, or background to realize success beyond his wildest dreams. His father and mother had the same kind of spirit when they chose to leave their native Greece and to raise their family in America. His love of family, his devotion to his beautiful and soul-sustaining wife, Faye, his heritage, and his business adventures never wavered in the face of adversity. Very early on, Alex mustered up the courage to step outside the box by walking out the basement door of his father's bakery, with no job, no money and a wife with child. What Alex did have was faith, and an unshakable confidence in self, and right or wrong, he trusted his own decisions. Alex took full responsibility for his actions, taking risks and creating his own opportunities and never looked back.

Wow, how refreshing to read a bio on someone so smart, straight forward and real...A great true story of rags to riches. Amazing how he started out and busted his butt for everything he has today. And with all of his money and power, he still lives in the town he grew up in, has helped his hometown alot and has all of his family working with him. Very inspiring and a true all american success story that I enjoyed reading alot.

This book is about one man's success. It's about the key events in his life and his response to them based on the best of his religious, family, and cultural values. It's a true rags to riches story and a timely reminder that there is just no substitute for the American Dream- a dream that is still alive and well for anyone with more of an eye towards opportunity rather than simply "security".

Alex is an inspiration & should be applauded for his tremendous work ethic & his willingness to step out and take a chance. In reading this book, I was a bit surprised at his lack of humility. He spoke at great length about his hob nobing with Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Telly Salas, Bill Cosby and others. His philanthropy is certainly commendable, and he certainly spares us few details. Alex gave a jet to Bob Hope, and funded a reconstruction project for the Temple of Zeus. You will be reminded repeatedly that he became "one of the nation's leading builders of apartment communities." Don't get me wrong. This book will inspire and challenge others to take a chance as Alex did. It would have been better in my option if he had been a bit less egotistical. But then again, maybe that's a big part of the reason for his success.

What an incredible example of whether I think I can, or
whether I think I can't, either way I'll be right. Spanos is
a living model of how easy we have it in the good old USA.
A wonderful person and business man we can all learn something from. Thank you Mr. Spanos!

After a distinguished business career Alex Spanos shares his rags to riches story in his autobiographical Sharing the Wealth. A real life Horatio Alger story, at times it seems that the tale he tells is too good to be true.

Spanos's story begins in the depression era where he spent his youth working in his father's bakery. After coming home from WWII he went back to work for his father earning a meager but steady paycheck. He could have settled, but this was not enough for Alex Spanos. With little money in his pocket and a child and a pregnant wife he left his steady job in search of a better life. He found this better life in short order.

Starting out with the humble bologna sandwich, Spanos built a successful catering business and, for tax reasons, began to invest in real estate. Soon, this tax benefit became his main line of business. He then grew this business from regional to nationwide and along the way earned himself a fortune. Fame only came after purchasing the San Diego Chargers.

A subtle subtext runs throughout this tale. Spanos is not telling his story to brag nor is he doing so to win a Pulitzer Prize. His goal, as stated in the book's subtitle, is to share the wealth. Throughout the story he emphasizes the assets that he employed to get the job done. Reading between the lines, the message of the book is clear; success in either business or life requires strength in character.

Ultimately, the final 14 pages make this subtext explicit and these pages alone are worth the price of the book. The end result is a book that serves as an inspiration to the next generation of Horatio Algers and hopefully stirs the Horatio Alger inside all of us.

This is a very successful man who built a great business in real estate from scratch and eventually purchased the San Diego Chargers. I'm quite sure that he has some very interesting stories to tell about his incredible journey. But the book is conspicuously void of the kind of detail that most readers are looking for. The book is just a basic summary of his career and you never really get to know his essential persona. He also spends a very long chapter detailing how he became involved in providing aid to Greece, his native country (although he never lived there). He may think that people care about such things but most people could not care less about this type of information. This chapter was ridiculously boring.
When people read these type of books, for the most part, they are looking for the details of how these people lived their business lives. They want insight into the nuts and bolts of the deals that these people were able to successfully navigate. They DO NOT care to hear about the intricate details about some charity work that you performed in your native land. Its great that you did it-just keep that to yourself. I also did not care to hear about his friendship with Bob Hope over and over (we get the picture-you and Bob Hope are friends-it's not that interesting).
This book could have been great but instead turned out to be a kind of pat himself on the back executive summary-no depth at all.
One final point: Spanos claims to hold his family at the center of his life but he seems to have been gone from home an incredible amount of time. Whether being gone for weeks on business, traveling the world playing golf, spending a great amount of time in Greece, or traveling the country with Bob Hope doing shows, he and his wife spent a lot of time apart. She stayed home with the family. It may or may not be true, but he certainly gives the impression that he traveled a ton having a good time while his wife and kids stayed behind. Not a big deal unless you keep harping on what a great family man you are.
All in all, a very lightweight biography that could have been a thousand times better.

In one word - inspirational. Alex Spanos, an immigrant's son, lives the American dream. The 2004 Forbes 400 places Spanos at number 260 with an estimated net worth of $1,100,000,000. This book, written a few years ago, is the story of Spanos' life through August 2001.

When Spanos describes his childhood and youth under his parents' roof, he is very respectful of his parents, but he does not pull any punches when describing his unsuccessful efforts to gain the respect of his father - both as a young man and later in life. In fact, Spanos is not shy about sharing any of his efforts that do not achieve the result he initially intended. He strives to make his "failures" in life learning experiences and thus not really failures.

Spanos shares the story of his life, from his father's bakery to the owner's suite of the San Diego Chargers. Throughout the book Spanos sprinkles his understanding as to why he has been financially successful. Generously, the last chapter of the book is devoted to what Spanos believes are the fundamentals of success. It doesn't get any easier.

Five stars and a bag of chips.

From poor baker to multi-millionaire--and all on his own merit--Alex Spanos lays out the blueprint for rags-to-riches success. He was a man who learned to seek out and seize the opportunities to make truly great things happen. Far from a 300 page brag-fest, Spanos comes off as humbled by his successes, and more than willing to share the lessons learned from his failures.

I bought this book after hearing Mr. Spanos speak on the radio because he was so full of life and contageous energy. I decided I absolutely had to read about his life and find out what made this guy tick. I'm glad I did. His enthusiasm for business and life in general comes through on every page. This is a must-read for anyone who aspires to greatness but still feels intimidated by their present circumstanes.

If you ever feel that you life or career are not where you want them to be, then pick up a copy of "Sharing the Wealth" by Alex Spanos for inspiration! As the charismatic billionaire owner of the San Diego Chargers, Alex's life story reads like a how-to book for calculated risk and the pursuing of one's dreams.

Alex's real story starts when he's 27-years-old. He's working as a baker for his father, making $40 a week, working 15 hours a day, and his wife is about to deliver their second child. He doesn't have the money to pay the hospital bills, so he asks his father for a raise. The answer is no. Without looking back, Alex Spanos quits his job with no prospects and no idea of how he's going to support his family.

Within a week, he's got a great idea for a business - selling sandwiches to immigrant workers in the community's surrounding fields. He soon finds that overcoming his fear and making that initial step to quit his dead-end job was the hardest part of his journey. Six months later, his business is making $500,000 a year, and Alex is well on his way to financial freedom. In the coming decades, he would become the preeminent builder of apartments in America, the owner of a NFL franchise, and live a life most people only dare to dream.

Along the way, Alex reveals many of his secrets to success: a wife that wholeheartedly supports him, the principle that cash is king, and the self-confidence that whatever has to be done, he'll do. Through every page, the infectious enthusiasm of Alex Spanos springs to life, uplifting those around him and those who celebrate his success and happiness. With this book, he passes on his life lessons for the benefit of posterity and creates a personal bond with his reader - leaving us wishing and hoping that someday soon the Chargers will win the Super Bowl...!

Britt Gillette
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