Sharing the Wealth: My Story

In one word - inspirational. Alex Spanos, an immigrant's son, lives the American dream. The 2004 Forbes 400 places Spanos at number 260 with an estimated net worth of $1,100,000,000. This book, written a few years ago, is the story of Spanos' life through August 2001. When Spanos describes his childhood and youth under his parents' roof, he is very respectful of his parents, but he does not pull any punches when describing his unsuccessful efforts to gain the respect of his father - both as a young man and later in life. In fact, Spanos is not shy about sharing any of his efforts that do not achieve the result he initially intended. He strives to make his "failures" in life learning experiences and thus not really failures. Spanos shares the story of his life, from his father's bakery to the owner's suite of the San Diego Chargers. Throughout the book Spanos sprinkles his understanding as to why he has been financially successful. Generously, the last chapter of the book is devoted to what Spanos believes are the fundamentals of success. It doesn't get any easier. Five stars and a bag of chips.

From poor baker to multi-millionaire--and all on his own merit--Alex Spanos lays out the blueprint for rags-to-riches success. He was a man who learned to seek out and seize the opportunities to make truly great things happen. Far from a 300 page brag-fest, Spanos comes off as humbled by his successes, and more than willing to share the lessons learned from his failures. I bought this book after hearing Mr. Spanos speak on the radio because he was so full of life and contageous energy. I decided I absolutely had to read about his life and find out what made this guy tick. I'm glad I did. His enthusiasm for business and life in general comes through on every page. This is a must-read for anyone who aspires to greatness but still feels intimidated by their present circumstanes.

What an incredible example of whether I think I can, orwhether I think I can't, either way I'll be right. Spanos isa living model of how easy we have it in the good old USA.A wonderful person and business man we can all learn something from. Thank you Mr. Spanos!

In my opinion, Sharing The Wealth: My Story by Alex Spanos is a must read, a gift to people across-the-board, no matter their station in life. I feel this book can be an inspiration to those just starting out in life, as well as a wake-up call to those millions of us who need to re-evaluate our lives, our values and our goals. A real Horatio Alger character, Alex possessed a spirit that could not be shot down by the lack of money, connections, education, or background to realize success beyond his wildest dreams. His father and mother had the same kind of spirit when they chose to leave their native Greece and to raise their family in America. His love of family, his devotion to his beautiful and soul-sustaining wife, Faye, his heritage, and his business adventures never wavered in the face of adversity. Very early on, Alex mustered up the courage to step outside the box by walking out the basement door of his father's bakery, with no job, no money and a wife with child. What Alex did have was faith, and an unshakable confidence in self, and right or wrong, he trusted his own decisions. Alex took full responsibility for his actions, taking risks and creating his own opportunities and never looked back.

Wow, how refreshing to read a bio on someone so smart, straight forward and real...A great true story of rags to riches. Amazing how he started out and busted his butt for everything he has today. And with all of his money and power, he still lives in the town he grew up in, has helped his hometown alot and has all of his family working with him. Very inspiring and a true all american success story that I enjoyed reading alot.