But Mugabe isn't a success. At the time the book was written no one knew what Stalin was going to turn into. He - Hill - was of the belief that anyone that was out for themselves at the expense of others was a detriment and could not reach their potential. He applied that to the heads of industry to the people that worked for them. He was not Machiavellian in his beliefs but very altruistic. From the people that he talked to he came to the conclusion that anyone could be a success. Many of the people on that list started with nothing. Fascinating stuff considering that it was written right after the Great Depression and his research took 20 years some some of it was done during the height of the Depression. He has many examples of people succeeding during the Depression.