Yep as far as billionaires go, he's a great guy. A lot of the shit thrown at him is just that.

Only read one of his books, can't bring it to mind, but was one of his earlier ones about his theory of reflexology, self reinforcing trends etc. He's a better trader than writer/philosopher/academic, but the book was enjoyable and the gist of it all rang true for me, at least in its application to markets.