Winners Never Cheat

This book sets out to remind readers why they work, and why they were chosen to lead. It's about finding the bravery to act on what they know is right--and building teams with the same courage. Above all, it's about winning the right way.

Next time someone tells you business can't be done ethically -- corners must be cut, negotiations can't be honest -- hand them Jon Huntsman's new book. He started with practically nothing, and made it to Forbes'list of America's Top 100 richest people. Huntsman's generous about sharing the credit, but in the 21st century, he's the nearest thing to a self-made multi-billionaire. Now, he presents the lessons of a lifetime: a passionate, inspirational manifesto for returning to the days when your word was your bond, a handshake was sacred, and swarms of lawyers weren't needed to back it up. This is no mere exhortation: it's a practical business book about how to listen to your moral compass, even as others ignore theirs. It's about how you build teams with the highest values, share success, take responsibility, and earn the rewards that only come with giving back. Huntsman's built his career and fortune on these principles. You don't live these principles just to 'succeed': you live them because they're right. But in an age of non-stop business scandal, Huntsman's life proves honesty is more than right: it's the biggest competitive differentiator.

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Winners Never Cheat: Even in Difficult Times (ISBN: 9780137009039) by Jon M. Huntsman. Available in print and digital formats. The surprisingly simple reminder that can keep people honest when they’re tempted to stray. Why do some bright students cheat? Why do some otherwise upstanding citizens chisel on their income taxes? Why do some physically fit, talented athletes inject themselves with performance-enhancing drugs? How can some folks who profess to be religious look you in the eye, and lie? Why do some of the richest people have the hardest time parting with money for those in need?

An inspiring autobiography by “one of the finest human beings, industrial leaders, and philanthropists on the planet” (Stephen R. Covey). The company Jon Huntsman founded in 1970, the Huntsman Corporation, is now one of the largest petrochemical manufacturers in the world, employing more than 12,000 people and generating over $10 billion in revenue each year. Success in business, though, was always a means to an end for him—never an end in itself. In Barefoot to Billionaire, Huntsman revisits the key moments in his life that shaped his view of faith, family, service, and the responsibility that comes with wealth. He writes candidly about his brief tenure in the Nixon administration, which preceded the Watergate scandal but still left a deep impression on him about the abuse of power and the significance of personal respect and integrity. He also opens up about his faith and prominent membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But most importantly, Huntsman reveals the rationale behind his commitment to give away his entire fortune before his death. In 1995, Huntsman and his wife, Karen, founded the Huntsman Cancer Institute and eventually dedicated more than a billion dollars of their personal funds to the fight for a cure. In this increasingly materialistic world, Barefoot to Billionaire is a refreshing reminder of the enduring power of traditional values.

A public policy expert reveals how decades of deregulation and increasing inequality have fostered a culture of cheating across America. There have always been people who cut corners, but in The Cheating Culture, David Callahan demonstrates how cheating on every level—from the highly publicized corporate scandals to Little League fraud—has risen dramatically in recent decades. He then asks the simple yet provocative questions: Why all the cheating? Why now? Callahan pins the blame on today’s dog-eat-dog economic climate. An unfettered market and unprecedented economic inequality have corroded our values and threaten the level playing field so central to American democracy itself. Through revealing interviews and extensive data analysis, Callahan takes readers on a revealing tour of cheating in America and offers a powerful argument for why it matters.

Original lie -- Jobs mirage -- Charity doghouse -- Off the books -- Collecting tribute -- Don't ask, don't know -- Conflicts of interest -- Tax scam -- Polishing apple -- The Koch papers -- Wall scam -- Opportunity knocks -- Dangerous favors -- Expensive juice -- The shipping news -- Russian money man -- Promises, promises -- Family first -- After Trump.

Money. Gobs of it. In the blink of an eye - or the drop of a ball— it's all yours. Everyone dreams about striking it rich by winning a lottery. We all feverishly line up to purchase our tickets, and watch TV or scan the newspapers to see if we have won, even though the odds are better that we will be struck by lightning. Still, we perservere, because no matter what else happens this week, you can be sure that someone, somewhere, will win the big one. Lotteries are an unparalleled popular phenomenon. But what happens after the winners are revealed, and the checks have been issued? How does winning a lottery change one's life? Luck of the Draw profiles past winners of big lotteries, and how their windfall impacted their lives, mostly for the better, but interestingly sometimes for the worse, such was the case of a Florida widow who won $5 million in 1984; three years later, she lost her mansion and fancy cars, and owed the IRS $500,000 for back taxes. Eventually she was arrested for trying to hire a contract killer to take out her daughter-in-law, whom she blamed for her lottery misfortune. The book also depicts the past, present and future of lotteries in North America and the world over, and includes a special chapter on the revived phenomenon of big-time TV game show winners. Who wants to be a millionaire? Seemingly, everyone. In a country where eighty percent of adults have played a lottery, creating a multi-billion dollar industry, Luck of the Draw is an insightful inside look at lotteries, its winners, and its losers.