Summary of T. Boone Pickens's The First Billion Is the Hardest

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I have always been drawn to risk, and I’ve taken it at every point in my life. I was born in 1928 in a railroad town in eastern Oklahoma, and grew up with a family that was hardworking, self-sufficient, and honest.

#2 I had to learn to sit on my bottom, as my grandmother often told me. I had to give back a dollar I had found on the street because my mother, grandmother, and aunt said that I wasn’t supposed to be paid to be honest.

#3 When I was with Phillips Petroleum, I was working with three geologists and a couple of engineers on a joint interest well. I was making $5,000 a year. One of the geologists asked me what I would sign up for if I could lock in a salary right now for the rest of my life. I had a wife and two kids by then, and wanted to ensure that they were comfortable.

#4 I worked for Phillips Petroleum in Oklahoma, and after three years, five months, and twenty-one days, I quit. I was 26 years old, and I had to make a living. I was not going to get rich working for $75 a day. But if I could put enough deals together, I could make a decent living.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822509412

IRB Media

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Insights on T. Boone Pickens's The First Billion Is the Hardest

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I have always been drawn to risk, and I’ve taken it at every point in my life. I was born in 1928 in a railroad town in eastern Oklahoma, and grew up with a family that was hardworking, self-sufficient, and honest.

#2

I had to learn to sit on my bottom, as my grandmother often told me. I had to give back a dollar I had found on the street because my mother, grandmother, and aunt said that I wasn’t supposed to be paid to be honest.

#3

When I was with Phillips Petroleum, I was working with three geologists and a couple of engineers on a joint interest well. I was making $5,000 a year. One of the geologists asked me what I would sign up for if I could lock in a salary right now for the rest of my life. I had a wife and two kids by then, and wanted to ensure that they were comfortable.

#4

I worked for Phillips Petroleum in Oklahoma, and after three years, five months, and twenty-one days, I quit. I was 26 years old, and I had to make a living. I was not going to get rich working for $75 a day. But if I could put enough deals together, I could make a decent living.

#5

I formed my first oil company with two investors in 1962. We had a good run and drilled 98 straight oil wells in Hutchinson County by 1964. We were