YOU ONLY HAVE TO BE RIGHT ONCE

Forbes has access to the world’s most influential and wealthiest entrepreneurs. Their journalists have chronicled the new batch of billionaires over the last three years, including the founders of Spotify, Airbnb, Tumblr, and Twitter. Now, in a compilation introduced, edited, and updated by Forbes editor Randall Lane, we see the first comprehensive look at who these game-changers are, what makes them tick, and what their next moves spell for the future of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Main Street.

Forbes has access to the world’s most influential and wealthiest entrepreneurs. Their journalists have chronicled the new batch of billionaires over the last three years, including the founders of Spotify, Airbnb, Tumblr, and Twitter. Now, in a compilation introduced, edited, and updated by Forbes editor Randall Lane, we see the first comprehensive look at who these game-changers are, what makes them tick, and what their next moves spell for the future of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Main Street.

Many of these individuals have unique relationships with Forbes, allowing them exclusive, in-depth access to their lives before and after their big wins—an IPO or multibillion dollar sale. They’re marked by extreme speed, insatiable hunger, and unconventional leadership. Their companies are the hottest around, their names synonymous with big money, and, often, prodigy-level genius. These golden boys include: • Elon Musk: billionaire founder of Paypal, electric carmaker Tesla, and private space company SpaceX. His extreme ambition is matched by his preternatural engineering mind; no wonder he was the model for Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Iron Man. • Evan Spiegel: The 23-year old declined a $3 billion cash offer from Mark Zuckerberg—an unheard of request from a young gun to one of the biggest players in Silicon Valley. Snapchat’s origin story is even wilder than Facebook’s, but Spiegel’s ability to parlay infamy and popularity into revenue is still up in the air, even as Snapchat’s valuation continues to grow. • Alex Karp: An eccentric philosopher with almost no tech background turned a Peter Thiel-backed venture, Palantir, into a data-mining champion, with clients like the NSA, FBI, and CIA. Amid heated privacy concerns, Karp continues to grow Palantir like crazy, to $196 million in funding and an estimated $1 billion in contracts in 2014.

For the book, Lane updates and introduces the members of this billionaire boys’ club, adding fresh commentary and insight that will help both fans and detractors see their huge triumphs and extreme risks in a new light. Readers can see what these super-entrepreneurs say about their own success, their modus operandi, and where they—and we all—are looking next.

Everyone wants to be the next Drew Houston (Dropbox) or Jan Koum (WhatsApp)—or find out how to work with them, invest in them, or beat them. YOU ONLY HAVE TO BE RIGHT ONCE shows us how.

Randall Lane is a Forbes editor, journalist, entrepreneur, and author of The Zeroes: My Misadventures in the Decade Wall Street Went Insane (Portfolio, June 2010. ANZ/Scribe. Chinese simplified/CITIC. Korean/Willcompany. Russian/United Press). As CEO and editor in chief of Doubledown Media, he founded or relaunched six magazines, including Trader Monthly, Dealmaker, and Private Air. Before that, he cofounded P.O.V. magazine, which was Adweek's "Startup of the Year." A National Magazine Award finalist, he has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Daily Beast and is a former Washington bureau chief for Forbes.