True Wealth: The Vision and Genius of Innovator James Levoy Sorenson

Jim Sorenson was born into poverty to teenage parents. As a small boy in California he shelled walnuts and sold things door-to-door to help put food on his family’s table. Hope for a better future was dashed for a time by a teacher who branded him mentally retarded. Yet he died a billionaire, having risen to rare heights as an inventor and entrepreneur. Dyslexia made reading extremely difficult, but also planted the seeds of awesome abilities. He invented many medical instruments that today are standard in hospitals across the world, and pioneered entire industries while launching some 40 companies. Jim was an American original–eccentric and complex, who preached teamwork but was utterly incapable of being anything but the leader; insistent on his rules but indifferent to everyone else’s. After co-founding one of the nation’s first biotechnology companies, he left and began Sorenson Research. Jim coveted results, not resumes. He hired a machinist and a sewing-machine repairman. Starting almost from scratch, the three invented ingenious medical devices, selling the company fifteen years later for $100 million. Real estate was the other pillar of Jim’s wealth. He was reputed to be his state’s largest private landowner. His genius in acquiring land and holding, selling, or developing it created a blueprint others can profitably follow. Jim was a philosopher and idealist, pouring a fortune into a quest for peace. He brought antagonistic religions together in international summits, and gathered 100,000 human DNA samples from 90 percent of all countries, believing that if diverse peoples are shown they are related, they will learn to leave peaceably. Jim was also a husband and father of eight whose family struggled to relate to him as he single-mindedly pursued his dreams.