Each week, The Profile publishes an array of deeply-reported profiles on the world’s most successful people and companies.

But I’ve been wondering: What are the world’s most successful reading themselves?

I turned to fellow Profile readers who also happen to be some of the best-known founders, investors, and executives and asked them to share their own favorite profiles. What are they reading, who inspires them, and what lessons have they learned?

Twenty industry leaders shared profiles detailing the lives of business magnates, tech titans, and media powerhouses. These timeless reads (and listens) are entertaining, informative, and sometimes deeply personal.

(Below is an excerpt. See the whole list here.)

Kat Cole, president & COO of Focus Brands

“This profile on president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments Mellody Hobson came out a few years after I first met her and a year after she was so kind to me at an event where I didn’t know many people. I loved this profile, because it goes beyond common headlines and highlights the complexity, intellect, deeply rooted power, and ever-present grace the seem to make her so inspirational and impactful.

“Some of the early and final lines of this profile are the power-seed bread of the awesomeness sandwich that is her story. The core content shares the diversity and miles between her various life experiences, interests and views and the cumulative impact she has on those around her as a result. While I don’t think any one piece can fully do someone like Mellody justice, this is a beautiful intro to an even more beautiful human.”

👉 Why Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Bradley, and Oprah love Mellody Hobson👈
By Bethany McLean, Vanity Fair

Morgan Housel, partner at Collaborative Fund

“I have a chronic stutter, which I've written about (and how I overcame it). So this profile of Joe Biden and his stutter really hit me: What I love about it: it's a debilitating but very rare and hardly talked about issue, so to show how one of the most famous people in the world deals with it was so important. Everyone has something like this — a hidden problem that they rarely talk about. So to shed light on people's weaknesses is so powerful.”

👉 What Joe Biden Can’t Bring Himself to Say 👈
By John Hendrickson, The Atlantic

Ryan Graves, founder of Saltwater & former CEO of Uber

“I read this one this weekend and really enjoyed it.”

👉 Former Guggenheim President Todd Boehly Is Growing His Investment Empire, From the Dodgers to Collateralized Loans👈
By Mary Childs, Barron’s

Pattie Sellers, co-founder of SellersEaston Media & former assistant managing editor at Fortune

“It's a New Yorker story that blew me away in 1999, when it brought up the notion of a person who, driven by curiosity and a certain openness and optimism, thrived by connecting people. The subject of the story by, yes, Malcolm Gladwell was Lois Weisberg, who was Chicago's Commissioner of Cultural Affairs.

“No one talked about connectors or connections back then—this was the dawn of the Internet age and five years before Facebook!—but here was Gladwell, introducing us to this concept of connectors, which he described as human social networks. The next year, in 2000, he explained the concept, using Weisberg as a model connector, in his first book, The Tipping Point. So...I love this New Yorker story because it is quirky, brain-stretching, and way ahead of its time.”

👉 Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg👈
By Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker

Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner

“Charlie Munger’s Poor Charlie’s Almanack — it’s a long profile, part biography, part compendium of some of his best speeches. A unique polymath that understands the power of psychology and incentives, timeless human nature and how systems work to make the best decisions possible. I met Charlie in Omaha, flew to Pasadena to hear him speak at CalTech and devour every word and ounce of worldly wisdom.”

👉 Poor Charlie’s Almanack 👈
By Charles T. Munger

Read the rest of the story here.

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THE PROFILE DOSSIER: On Wednesday, premium members received The Profile Dossier, a comprehensive deep-dive on a prominent individual. It featured Kyle Carpenter, the U.S. Marine who jumped on a grenade to shield his friend from the blast. Become a premium member and read it here.

PROFILES.

— The Olympian haunted by the ghost of Michael Phelps [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The star entrepreneur who stole millions
— The gymnast confronting her fears
— The refugee who refuses to stay silent
— The teenage mastermind behind the Twitter hack
— Norway’s new controversial oil fund manager
— The rap powerhouse who can’t be stopped
— The private agents hired to seduce your spouse

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The Olympian haunted by the ghost of Michael Phelps: Milorad Cavic remembers everything about the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and one day in particular. He remembers walking onto the deck for the 100-meter butterfly. He also remembers touching the wall, certain he had just won Olympic gold. But it was not Cavic who was declared the winner. It was Michael Phelps. The difference in their times was one one-hundredth of a second. Twelve years later, Cavic still finds himself haunted by that close and controversial race. (The Ringer)

“One thing that bothers me is I’m pegged to a guy, and probably will be pegged to a guy for the rest of my life, and I never knew him. Why did he never want to spend five minutes with me?”

The star entrepreneur who stole millions: In 2016, Obinwanne Okeke was named to Forbes Africa’s prestigious 30 under 30 list. The 17th child of a polygamous father, Okeke grew up poor in a village in Nigeria. But he persevered, starting a business that involved low-cost housing and green homes. But that business empire existed alongside his criminal enterprises. Okeke was arrested for defrauding a company of $11 million & he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on June 18. His rapid ascent reflects a growing trend in online scamming known as business email compromise. (Rest of World)

“CEOs assume, because they pay millions of dollars for security and their staff is being trained, they don’t have to take precautions themselves.”

The gymnast confronting her fears: Another profile on Simone Biles? Yes, and this one is well-worth your time. Even though she’s the greatest gymnast of all time, Biles still has fears, bad days, and things she still wants to accomplish. She worries about getting seriously injured before the 2021 Olympics, she’s trying to figure out what else is out there for her, and like many of us, she’s still on a journey of self-discovery. (VICE)

"It's taken me a lot of confidence to realize, 'Yes, I am the best. I've been the best for a couple of years now.'"

The refugee who refuses to stay silent: Behrouz Boochani was an Iranian dissident who fled Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He spent six years trapped in Australia's offshore detention center on Manus Island. While imprisoned, Boochani reported from the inside using contraband phones. He typed out an entire book via WhatsApp, which would go on to win one of Australia's top literary prizes. This is an incredible story of survival. (The New York Times)

“Humans are like this, after all. Even in unexpected situations they become gripped by wonder.”

The teenage mastermind behind the Twitter hack:By the time he was 15, Graham Ivan Clark became known as an adept scammer who cheated people out of their money on the video game Minecraft. By 16, he became tied to hacks that yielded well over $1 million in Bitcoin. Everything came crashing down when police arrested Clark, now 17, for hacking Twitter’s systems and taking over the accounts of some of the world’s most famous people. (The New York Times)

“He never really seemed to care about anyone but himself.”

Norway’s new controversial oil fund manager: Under the leadership of Yngve Slyngstad, Norway’s $1.1 trillion oil fund has shown increasing willingness to hold companies to account over social and environmental issues. But when Slyngstad’s replacement was recently announced, Norwegians raised an eyebrow. Why did hedge fund manager Nicolai Tangen, who’s worth $700 million, take a $630,000-a-year job managing an oil fund? (Institutional Investor)

“It’s bad for him personally because far too much time will be spent twiddling his thumbs. But it’s even worse for the fund.”

The rap powerhouse who can’t be stopped: Rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s had a lot going on. She burst onto the hip-hop scene in 2017 with “Stalli Freestyle,” and has released banger after banger since “Hot Girl Summer” and a tag team with Beyoncé on the “Savage” remix earlier this year. Despite a pandemic and still-unexplained gunshot wounds, the 25-year-old star has made one thing clear: She’s not slowing down — or backing down. (Variety) 

“I’m not the type of person who can stay down for a long time.”

The private agents hired to seduce your spouse: In Japan, you can pay private agents called “wakaresaseya” to seduce your spouse. The idea is that hiring a professional seductor is useful when one partner won’t agree to a divorce, which complicates proceedings. As London-based writer Stephanie Scott says, “Your wife is much more likely to agree to a divorce if she’s in love with someone and wants to move on.” What a crazy world we live in. (BBC)

“The continuing existence of the wakaresaseya industry suggests that money and deception may be uncomfortably threaded into relationships more often than people recognise.”

This installment of The Profile is free for everyone. If you would like to get full access to all of the recommendations, including today’s audio and video sections, sign up below.

AUDIO TO HEAR.

Maria Konnikova on sharpening your decision-making: In a very short time span, writer-turned-professional poker player Maria Konnikova faced a sudden health issue, her grandmother unexpectedly passed away, and both her mom and husband lost their jobs. She began thinking about the role that chance plays in all of our lives. In this fascinating conversation, Konnikova discusses why she turned to poker to better understand decision-making in uncertain situations and how we can all get better at sharpening our thought process. (Link available to premium members.)

David Perell on building a personal brand: How do you build a lasting personal brand? David Perell is masterful in explaining it: “A brand is the range of outcomes that you can expect from somebody.” In this podcast, Perell delves into how you can build an original, consistent, and timeless brand. (Link available to premium members.)

Chamath Palihapitiya on doing away with the traditional IPO: In case you hadn’t heard, SPACs are hot right now. A SPAC stands for “special purpose acquisition company.” and it’s used to take a company public via a merger with the whole process taking about 90 days. Investor Chamath Palihapatiya is one of its biggest proponents. “There are all these archaic rules you can work around that a SPAC solves,” he says. (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO SEE.

Mellody Hobson on bite-sized bravery: What makes us brave? Ariel Investments president and co-CEO Mellody Hobson says you can’t be brave without fear. “Bravery allows us to push beyond the boundaries that hold us back from having the lives we want,” she says. In this inspiring talk, she offers three equations that contain the ingredients to a happy, successful life. (Link available to premium members.)

Loy Machedo on snap judgements: Loy Machedo has tattoos all over his face, arms, and body. At first sight, complete strangers have labeled him a smoker, a drug addict, and a gangster. He is none of those things. “I’m a speaker, a writer, and I’m a person who loves to read books. I’m just like you,” he says. “How many people do we judge before we even know them? Have you thought about that?” (Link available to premium members.)

Lin-Manuel Miranda on his creative process: Lin-Manuel Miranda is an actor, a writer, a singer, a rhymer, and the creator of “Hamilton.” He says his job is to fall in love with an idea so much that you have to see it through to completion. “It’s about that song or that impulse or that creative idea that doesn’t leave you alone,” he says. “It bugs you in the shower, it bugs you when you’re walking your dog, it bugs you when you’re changing your son’s diaper. It doesn’t leave you alone until you finish it. Those are the ideas I chase and write down when they feel true.” Take a peek into Miranda’s fascinating creative process. (Link available to premium members.)

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