2025
Winner: Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company by Patrick McGee, published by Scribner
Judging Comments: Apple in China reveals the depth of the tech giant’s entanglement with the Chinese state and examines the moral and political tradeoffs made along the way. With rich reporting and geopolitical relevance, it has enduring impact. Overall, it shows how sharp writing and a clear narrative can turn deep reporting into a compelling page-turner. You learn more about Apple reading by this book than from any newspaper article or documentary out there.
Finalists: Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan Greenwell, published by Dey Street Books; Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, published by Penguin Press.
2024
Winner: Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR’s Fight to Regulate American Capitalism by Diana B. Henriques, published by Random House
Judging Comments: The book is a comprehensive and engaging exploration into the early days of Wall Street regulation and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The page-turner with an unexpected twist explores President Franklin Roosevelt’s efforts to reign in Wall Street – a challenge that rings true decades later as some of the same debates over regulation continue. Henriques introduces readers to vivid characters and recreates an era that is long gone but has remarkable relevance for today.
Finalist: Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux, published by Crown Currency
2023
Winner: Built from the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, America’s Black Wall Street, by Victor Luckerson, published by Random House
Judging Comments: This book is a well-researched gem. Highly readable, it covers the breadth of the story, not just that terrible event in 1921, when an angry white mob descended upon Greenwood, destroying thirty-five blocks. In Luckerson’s capable hands, the book becomes a family saga as well as a business lesson in vision and fortitude.
Finalists: These are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner, published by Simon & Schuster; Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams, published by Penguin Press
2022
Winner: Flying Blind: The 737 Max Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing by Peter Robison, published by Doubleday
Judging Comments: As he chronicles the fall of one of the greatest American companies, Peter Robison also tells an even larger story of the decline of American business as engineering excellence and product safety were sacrificed in the relentless pursuit of profits and stock valuations.
Finalists: The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni, published by Simon & Schuster; A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a Covid-19 Vaccine by Gregory Zuckerman, published by Portfolio; Trillion Dollar Triage by Nick Timiraos, published by Little, Brown and Company
2021
Winner: An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang, published by HarperCollins
Judging Comments: An Ugly Truth focuses on the tech story of the year – Facebook’s fall from grace. Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang’s storytelling is rigorous, compelling, and timely.
Finalists: The Devil’s Playbook: Big Tobacco, Juul, and the Addiction of a New Generation by Lauren Etter, published by Crown; The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves by J.B. MacKinnon, published by Ecco
2020
Winner: The Price We Pay: What Broke American Health Care – and How to Fix It by Dr. Marty Makary, published by Bloomsbury Publishing
Judging Comments: The Price We Pay is fresh, enlightening, accessible, and impactful on the most critical issue of our time, healthcare. The book has made news, helped to change policy, and offers real solutions.
Finalists: No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram by Sarah Frier, published by Simon & Schuster; Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America by Gerald Posner, published by Simon & Schuster
