Book Review: The Everywhere Millionaire by Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick

Solid Expose That Could Have Been Better With More Balanced Treatment. First off, kudos to the authors for just how well documented this book is - roughly 27%. They build the case of their central premise well, and seemingly damn near every sentence has a footnote attached, at least at times. Yes, there are a lot of anecdotes and (brief, mostly) profiles of various people, but again - *very* well documented anecdotes and profiles.

Really the only even slight negative - enough for me to deduct a star and think it reasonably objective - is the authors' left of center viewpoints embedded in the narrative as simply axiomatic truths, including their far too common recommendations for future actions section (since all such books are seemingly required to have one) being the all-too-common Democratic/ Democratic Socialists approach of "more money" and "more regulation". This is one area where your mileage will absolutely vary based on your own political views and how well they line up with the authors', but there is also so much good, solid information here that even with these opinions baked in so heavily, they never come across as overly preachy so much as simply 'there'. Similar to a superhero story where you never get an origin or explanation, they simply exist, period, and the narrative moves on and never explains or questions said existence.

But the actual information presented here is done rather well, and written in a manner that will be very approachable to most readers. This is one that despite the authors' clear political leanings (and I don't say that lightly), they are still openly calling into question a lot of the talking points of their own side and showing that while the Bezos and Musk types are out there and do in fact have a lot of money, as an overall share, this far larger group collectively has nearly as much money... and that while Bezos and Musk may wield outsized power at a national level (not really, as the authors actually show here), this group of "main street millionaires" actually *does* wield considerable power at a more local level. The one that more directly impacts your day to day life, though the authors don't make this as clear as they likely should.

One note I will inject here is regarding my own experiences as a City Council candidate in a town where the then Mayor was also the owner of the local County (weekly) newspaper. Zidar and Zwick spent at least some of the text discussing how such local businessowners - including everything from doctors and lawyers to auto parts manufacturers - are some of the only ones with the time and resources to commit to a run for office and, well, this simply isn't entirely true. Yes, running for City Council in a decently large city (even Jacksonville, FL, with its million+ people and largest land area of any city in the US not in Alaska) can be financially daunting and the required meetings a bit... interesting... to manage when you work for someone else. HOWEVER, other local positions - such as the Soil and Water Conservation Board here in Duval County, or even City Council where I ran for it in Leesburg, GA - hometown of country music's Luke Bryan and MLB's Buster Posey - can be far more manageable. Indeed, when I ran for City Council in 2009 and 2010, the required filing fee for the office in that town was just $50, and that was the only required spending to be on the ballot and officially running for election to that public office. Your local particulars will be different, but it never hurts to talk to the local Election Board where you are and at least ask about the filing fees for the various offices that claim you as a constituent... and thus a potential challenger for the office. If you truly want to change things at your local level, these are the places to start, as they have the most direct impact. And yes, you likely will be running against an entrenched incumbent, possibly one of these very "Main Street Millionaires". But at the local level, sweat effort can - and *does*, at times - overcome any amount of money, particularly in smaller districts. As I've been advocating for more people to run for more offices for nearly 20 years now, I would be remiss not to put such a call in this review, given that this text directly speaks to a version of this very issue. You in all likelihood will never begin to approach the national influence that the Musk and Bezos types have. You *CAN* have more influence more locally - and thus more directly - than either of them or the "Main Street Millionaires". But this is simply a strong quibble with a small portion of the overall narrative here.

Read this book. It will be very enlightening. Then look for ways you can improve yourself, either via potentially following in the entrepreneurial footsteps of those profiled here or even by running for local office yourself. Either way, please do leave a review of this book after you read it wherever you see this review.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Everywhere Millionaire by Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick was originally written on August 31, 2026.