Google, Amazon, Netflix and The Gates Foundation use the management trick this book explains. : Billionaire — and bookworm — Bill Gates has announced his latest reading recommendation, and it's based on the principals of the man who first taught him to be a good manager. While Gates is now admired as an influential business leader, it wasn't always that way. In a blog post published Wednesday on Gates Notes, the Microsoft co-founder fesses up to a mistake he made when the company, founded in 1975, was young.