Author of the bestseller "Rich Dad Poor Dad" Robert Kiyosaki has $1.2 billion in debt. He explained how it happened
Robert Kiyosaki's book on financial literacy sold millions of copies.
Last November, Robert Kiyosaki, author of the bestseller "Rich Dad Poor Dad," announced that he had $1.2 billion in debt — and this became a sensation.
In reality, this sum is the total debt of a group of real estate investors with whom Kiyosaki owns approximately 1,500 apartments, writes Vanity Fair.
Kiyosaki's personal share of this debt is significantly smaller — with an estimated annual income of around $3 million, it could be $30-60 million, not $1.2 billion.
Where did the debt come from? When real estate values rise, Kiyosaki borrows even more money against the increased capital and uses these loans as tax-exempt "income." Each asset is isolated in a separate LLC (Limited Liability Company) — if one project fails, the bank loses money, but Kiyosaki himself is protected by "firewalls" between companies.
His philosophy: it doesn't matter how much debt you have if banks keep lending you money — and they, according to him, "never ask for a report card."
Kiyosaki admits: he loves making shocking statements — he deliberately names a scary figure to attract attention, and then explains why "investment debt is good."
Kiyosaki himself, whose home journalists visited, lives in Phoenix (Arizona, USA) in an unusual Moroccan-style house — with dirty-clay walls and pink doors, among typical Arizonian houses with Spanish tiles. He bought it for $4.5 million after his divorce. "I know it's weird, but I'm weird," he says.
His house features a personal museum of his achievements: frames with bestseller lists, a plaque for a million podcast listens, photos with Oprah, Boris Johnson, and Robert Kennedy Jr.
Kiyosaki is friends with Donald Trump and has written two books with him. "I love this guy. He's an asshole, but there's no other Donald Trump," he says.
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