Sharing the Wealth : My Story

Rating:
Summary: "Sharing the Wealth"---I don't think so.
Review: The title "Sharing the Wealth" is at best a parody and at worst a misguided, self-aggrandizing description of a truly mean-spirited, evil man. The money that is now being 'shared' is the hard earned cash of the citizens of San Diego. Paid-off, corrupt politicians gave Spanos, the owner of the San Diego Chargers, a contract that uses the citizens' tax money to pay him for any seats that are not sold for Chargers' games. For many years he has fielded weak, non-competitive teams with a low salary base because there was no incentive to spend money for an improved team. He was guaranteed that any seats that were not sold would be purchased at face value with taxpayers' money. Many say he has been 'raping' the city and its citizens. The prices for many 'club' level seats are $195 each. A ridiculous charge to watch, what has been for several years, a very substandard team. He can charge that because the seats that are not sold are purchased with taxpayer's money. Every year multiple millions are taken away from the city treasury that could be used to help the poor, feed the hungry, make desperately needed repairs, build new schools and libraries, etc., and sent to Spanos. "Sharing the Wealth"? Please---if the circumstance weren't so painful the audacity of the title would be hilarious. He is now trying to get the city to build him a new stadium and threatening to move the franchise to a different city is he does not get what he wants. Evil!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Insights
Review: This book is about one man's success. It's about the key events in his life and his response to them based on the best of his religious, family, and cultural values. It's a true rags to riches story and a timely reminder that there is just no substitute for the American Dream- a dream that is still alive and well for anyone with more of an eye towards opportunity rather than simply "security".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Insights
Review: This book is about one man's success. It's about the key events in his life and his response to them based on the best of his religious, family, and cultural values. It's a true rags to riches story and a timely reminder that there is just no substitute for the American Dream- a dream that is still alive and well for anyone with more of an eye towards opportunity rather than simply "security".

Rating:
Summary: A Yawner...This Book Misses the Mark...
Review: This is a very successful man who built a great business in real estate from scratch and eventually purchased the San Diego Chargers. I'm quite sure that he has some very interesting stories to tell about his incredible journey. But the book is conspicuously void of the kind of detail that most readers are looking for. The book is just a basic summary of his career and you never really get to know his essential persona. He also spends a very long chapter detailing how he became involved in providing aid to Greece, his native country (although he never lived there). He may think that people care about such things but most people could not care less about this type of information. This chapter was ridiculously boring.
When people read these type of books, for the most part, they are looking for the details of how these people lived their business lives. They want insight into the nuts and bolts of the deals that these people were able to successfully navigate. They DO NOT care to hear about the intricate details about some charity work that you performed in your native land. Its great that you did it-just keep that to yourself. I also did not care to hear about his friendship with Bob Hope over and over (we get the picture-you and Bob Hope are friends-it's not that interesting).
This book could have been great but instead turned out to be a kind of pat himself on the back executive summary-no depth at all.
One final point: Spanos claims to hold his family at the center of his life but he seems to have been gone from home an incredible amount of time. Whether being gone for weeks on business, traveling the world playing golf, spending a great amount of time in Greece, or traveling the country with Bob Hope doing shows, he and his wife spent a lot of time apart. She stayed home with the family. It may or may not be true, but he certainly gives the impression that he traveled a ton having a good time while his wife and kids stayed behind. Not a big deal unless you keep harping on what a great family man you are.
All in all, a very lightweight biography that could have been a thousand times better.

Rating:
Summary: A Wealth of Knowledge and Inspiration
Review: This is not a "get rich quick" or "how to make a million in 5 minutes" book. This book takes the reader on a journey during which (s)he experiences the life of Alex Spanos. The book is well written and perfectly paced. After reading the book you will believe that you could achieve your goals if only you dare try. The book contains so many acecdotes and stories of inspiration that when you have finished reading it you will feel as though you have actually met Alex. The only negative is the amaturish, self-indulgent forward written by Rush Limbaugh. Once you've gotten past the forward, the excellence in reading begins. Read and prepare to be inspired.

Rating:
Summary: A Wealth of Knowledge and Inspiration
Review: This is not a "get rich quick" or "how to make a million in 5 minutes" book. This book takes the reader on a journey during which (s)he experiences the life of Alex Spanos. The book is well written and perfectly paced. After reading the book you will believe that you could achieve your goals if only you dare try. The book contains so many acecdotes and stories of inspiration that when you have finished reading it you will feel as though you have actually met Alex. The only negative is the amaturish, self-indulgent forward written by Rush Limbaugh. Once you've gotten past the forward, the excellence in reading begins. Read and prepare to be inspired.

Rating:
Summary: A Wealth of Knowledge and Inspiration
Review: This is not a "get rich quick" or "how to make a million in 5 minutes" book. This book takes the reader on a journey during which (s)he experiences the life of Alex Spanos. The book is well written and perfectly paced. After reading the book you will believe that you could achieve your goals if only you dare try. The book contains so many acecdotes and stories of inspiration that when you have finished reading it you will feel as though you have actually met Alex. The only negative is the amaturish, self-indulgent forward written by Rush Limbaugh. Once you've gotten past the forward, the excellence in reading begins. Read and prepare to be inspired.

Rating:
Summary: Loved It!
Review: What an incredible example of whether I think I can, or
whether I think I can't, either way I'll be right. Spanos is
a 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!

Rating:
Summary: You GO Mr. Spanos!!!!
Review: 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.