Andrew Cave – Ghostwriter

35 years experience as a business journalist, including nine years on staff at The Daily Telegraph in London and New York. Freelance for 17 years. Eight books authored or ghostwritten and two edited for publishers including Hachette, Pearson and Profile Books. Two more books are currently with clients and publishers. Drive to Succeed: The Making of an Egyptian Titan by Mohamed Mansour will be published by Penguin Random House on December 7.

For me, facts have always been much more interesting than fiction. Stories I have helped tell include that of Iceland’s first billionaire, who made €4bn by the age of 40 and lost all but €70m of it the following year (don’t worry, he is now a billionaire again). There’s a top ten African billionaire who nearly died twice before his mid-20s but then ended up building one of the continent’s largest family conglomerates. Then there were the tales (in The Secrets of CEOs) of a top fund manager who relies on acting lessons to help lead one of the biggest companies in the sector and a property boss who took singing lessons so that people could hear his speeches. I also met a corporate astrologist who claims to be able to tell companies their stars.

I work closely with CEOs and other business leaders to listen to their stories, advise around what they do and do not want to say and hold their hand through the entire process, from book proposals to finding a publisher and completing a project. I am low-ego, empathetic and a great listener.