"Railroader" is the story of a man obsessed with being the best. It worked. He became the most successful rail executive of the modern era, but also the most polarizing. It’s a wild tale of a character you couldn’t make up; a person who was never content, never satisfied. Hunter Harrison was a Memphis boy---a self-taught, gruff, funny, larger-than-life, in-your-face character who turned around four publicly traded companies with his no-nonsense, abrasive methods, making billions for shareholders. CNBC’s Jim Cramer called him “the train whisperer”. Although Harrison could certainly run railroads more precisely and profitably than anyone else, there was conflict everywhere he went.
Starting as a laborer when he was a wayward teenager, Harrison spent a half century in the rail business. Charming, intimidating, and not afraid to make enemies, the no-bullshit CEO let nothing get in his way. Unfortunately, he passed away in December 2017, running his last railroad (CSX) while gravely ill and attached to an oxygen machine. Harrison was still CEO until two days before he died at just 73.
"Railroader" is, at its core, the warts-and-all, human story of a brilliant, industry-altering executive; an uncompromising leader who both inspired, infuriated and got eye-popping results. A success story, a love story, a tragedy and a narrative that rips open the meaning of ambition, the price of excellence, how big business and captains of industry operate---and how this CEO took matters to extremes.
"Railroader" was a finalist for the National Business Book Award and an instant national bestseller. Bill Gates has posted it on his blog---one of the books he’s read in 2019---and none other than Warren Buffett called it "an interesting read" at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting.