Steel Titan

The standard biography of Charles M. Schwab — the stakedriver’s assistant who became Andrew Carnegie’s plant manager at Braddock, then president of Carnegie Steel, then the first president of U.S. Steel when J. P. Morgan assembled it in 1901, and who then left to build Bethlehem Steel into its chief rival. Hessen, a business historian, works from Schwab’s own papers and is as interested in how he ran mills and paid men as in the deal-making.

Why it’s on the list: Bold on @mastersinvest’s 2025 list, meaning the curator rated it very good rather than merely read.

Where I saw it: @mastersinvest’s “2025 Reading … so far” list, August 20, 2025, where it appears in bold. The full 46-title list is transcribed on 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet).

Connections

• 2025 Reading So Far… (tweet) — the list this came from.