The debt of 1.2 billion USD and bankruptcies expose the contradiction between the philosophy of getting rich and the reality of the author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - the world-famous book on how to get rich.
Since its publication in 1997, Robert Kiyosaki's book Rich Dad, Poor Dad has sold more than 44 million copies and translated into 43 languages. The appeal of the work lies in the opening sentence: "I have two fathers, one rich (my close friend's father) and one poor (my biological father)". The first person taught him the secret to making money, the second person was an example of failure with unpaid bills at the end of his life.
The book's royalties alone have helped Kiyosaki have a large fortune. He always built the image of a sharp investor with real estate, oil wells, and gold mines, saying he earned about 250,000 USD per month.
However, his financial life has many hidden corners. In 2008, he was involved in a costly lawsuit with co-author Sharon Lechter. In 2012, Rich Global LLC, a company specializing in selling his courses, went bankrupt because it had to pay $24 million in compensation to its partners. There was a class action lawsuit against Rich Dad Education, alleging the purpose of the seminars was simply to sell high-priced courses.
His financial forecasts are also controversial. In June, he wrote on X: "Gold's rise has only just begun." But two weeks later, he updated: "I was wrong. Gold is still plunging."
Vanity Fair magazine recently visited Kiyosaki at his home in Arizona to find out the gap between the teachings in the book and the financial reality of this money "guru".
His house is like a museum displaying his lifelong achievements: from chrome-plated book editions, published books, to a series of photos taken with famous people.
Kiyosaki's life trajectory is filled with many contradictions. He dedicated the first book to his biological father Ralph Kiyosaki - former director of the Hawaii State Department of Education - with the words of gratitude as "the best teacher". But in his life's work Rich Dad, Poor Dad, he portrayed his father as a failure. This act of "betrayal" once made his brothers and sisters extremely angry.
After unsuccessful attempts to get rich in his youth, Kiyosaki's mission gradually turned to teaching others how to get rich. In 1993, after an educational company he ran collapsed, Kiyosaki created the game Cashflow and wrote Rich Dad, Poor Dad to explain the rules. Unlike "poor dad" who always advises studying hard and finding a job with good benefits, "rich dad"'s advice is completely pragmatic: Invest in assets that create positive cash flow, find ways to avoid taxes and always make sure you get paid first.
The book was obscure for a long time, but became famous after Kiyosaki appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the spring of 2000.
Regarding the claim of carrying $1.2 billion in debt, Kim, his ex-wife and business partner, said the figure was misunderstood. This is not Kiyosaki's personal debt, but the total debt of a group of real estate investors, tied to real assets including about 1,500 apartment buildings. His personal debt is estimated at 30-60 million USD, compared to an income of about 3 million USD per year. "He likes to say shocking things," Ms. Kim said.
In his philosophy, Kiyosaki believes that it doesn't matter how much debt you owe, as long as the bank still lends. When real estate prices increased, he borrowed more against the equity, treating it as non-taxable income. If the market crashes, the bank is in trouble, and you are protected by legal barriers.
Despite building the image of a tough and pragmatic investor, Robert Kiyosaki has never actually escaped the shadow of his biological father. In Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Kiyosaki uses the poem "The Road Not Taken" as a symbol of his decision to choose his rich dad over his biological father. However, behind that resistance is a strange harmony. When Mr. Ralph lay on his hospital bed fighting lung cancer, the only thing that brought him a sense of peace was this poem. The father asked his daughter to read the work to him over and over again in the last days of her life.
