Des Dearlove – Author Biography
Early Life
Des Dearlove is a British writer and journalist who studied politics and economics at the University of Southampton, graduating in 1986. He came of age as a writer in the late 1980s, a period when management theory was becoming a global industry — and he would spend his career chronicling it.
Career
Dearlove began as a columnist for The Times of London and worked as a business journalist, editor, and ghostwriter. In 1999 he co-founded Suntop Media, a media and consulting firm, and with his business partner Stuart Crainer he co-founded Thinkers50 — the biennial global ranking of management thinkers, often called the “Oscars of management thinking.” He is a contributing editor to the U.S. magazine Strategy+Business, and his Thought Leader Interview series has been syndicated to publications in more than twenty-five countries. His books distill the lessons of great entrepreneurs and management thinkers for general readers.
Major Works
Dearlove’s books include Business the Richard Branson Way (first published 1999; updated editions followed), Business the Bill Gates Way, The Ultimate Book of Business Thinking, Gravy Training: Inside the Business of Business Schools (1999, with Stuart Crainer), Generation Entrepreneur (2000, with Crainer), and Key Management Decisions. He co-edited The Financial Times Handbook of Management.
Writing Style and Themes
Dearlove writes crisp, accessible business journalism — short chapters, numbered lessons, and vivid entrepreneurial anecdotes. His “Big Shots” books extract ten practical secrets from the careers of figures like Richard Branson and Bill Gates: opportunism, brand-building, speed, and the common touch. His recurring themes are that great business ideas are simple, that entrepreneurs succeed through action rather than planning, and that management thinking itself deserves serious journalistic scrutiny.
Legacy
Through Thinkers50, Des Dearlove helped create the most influential institution in the management-ideas world, shaping which thinkers get global attention. His books brought entrepreneurial biography to airport-bookstore readers, and his journalism has chronicled the evolution of management thought for more than three decades. He remains one of Britain’s leading interpreters of business ideas.
