RAILROADER: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison

For sheer grit and audacity, Harriman had few rivals, and he now proceeded on a daring, even reckless corporate raid that would shake Wall Street to its very foundations. Since Morgan and Hill had stonewalled his request for a one-third holding in the Burlington, he would proceed to attack them from the rear. He would, instead, stealthily buy contr

Much more important, his philosophy of railroading—with its emphasis on infrastructure and the primacy of freight—would live on, not only in these lines but in most others as well.

The only thing that Hill refused to give his family was more of himself, for he labored long hours into the night with only partial respites on weekends. Aside from rides behind his horse teams and occasional bird hunting, he permitted himself few diversions in his relentless drive to achieve wealth and status.