Posted on 09/06/2026 7:12:24 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
“Rich Dad Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki — the self-help guru who has made a fortune preaching the secrets of financial success — has amassed a staggering $1.2 billion in debt tied to his sprawling real-estate investments, according to a report.
The 79-year-old scribe has repeatedly touted the eye-popping figure while arguing that borrowing money to buy income-producing assets is a strategy used by the wealthy.
“So, I’m a billion two in debt,” he told the “Get Rich Education” podcast over the summer.
He added that people “[s]hould not do what I do, right?”
“But I studied it since 1974… If you’re going to learn to use debt, you’d better take some education.”
His ex-wife and business partner Kim Kiyosaki recently told Vanity Fair that the $1.2 billion figure has been widely misunderstood — and does not represent money the best-selling author personally owes.
“We have a lot of apartment houses with our partners,” Kim told the magazine, putting the portfolio at some 1,500 units.
“So technically, yes, we have all this debt,” she said, adding that the borrowing is attached to real estate and that Kiyosaki’s personal share is small.
The enormous debt pile is a product of Kiyosaki’s investment strategy.
As his properties rise in value, he borrows additional money against the increased equity and treats the loan proceeds as tax-free income, according to Vanity Fair.
He also puts individual investments into separate limited liability companies, insulating them from one another if one runs into trouble, the magazine reported.
“If it all comes to hell, you can talk to my attorney,” Robert Kiyosaki told the magazine.
“Firewalls — that’s the way the rich play the game.”
Vanity Fair estimated his portion of the debt could be around $30 million to $60 million...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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he who dies deepest in debt wins
Poor dad this week.
Bingo!
Just looking at debt doesn’t tell you anything. You would have to look at what the property is really worth, and whether the cash flow is servicing the debt.
Any debt brings with it risk, and if (actully, that should read when) the market turns, his creditors may take a bath and the house of cards may collapse, but inflation has saved many a bad decision.
As far as ‘tax free’ money, if his creditors do have to start writing down debt, those 1099s will start showing up, and he can explain them to the IRS.
Just because I wouldn’t loan him money doesn’t mean that he has a bad business plan.
Great book.
Hard to believe. Kinda reminds me if Jim Fixx-The Complete Book of Running.
Better yet how about the late Karl Wallenda?
My understanding is that he keeps every property separately financed and incorporated and then directions all spare financing to one property at a time until they get paid off.
At worst, he will end up with a few property that he outright owns, even if he loses everything else.
When you owe the bank a million $ the bank owns you. When you owe the bank a billion $ you own the bank...
Paraphrased J. Paul Getty.
Kind of sad that my buddies and I would shout “Karl Wallenda” when someone would trip and fall. Usually when drunk.
Our tax system is so corrupt that people spend their resources on complex accounting tricks instead of productivity.
But how much are all his properties worth and do they generate more than enough income to cover the debt payments?
I didn’t see that anywhere in the article.
That was the book that got me started in real estate investing.
For all you non-accountants out there, here’s the Accounting Equation:
Assets = Liabilities (Debt) + Equity (Wealth)
So it can be OK to have $1.2 billion in debt, as long as the value of your assets exceeds that.
You don’t have to pay income taxes on money you borrow against your assets.
Seattle's down town business district is the glaring example of that fact.
There are two legendary Seattle office building titans who have gone belly up financially in the last few years.
Because King County and Seattle keep electing more and more radical Left Commissioners and Executives, down town business confidence has collapsed.
Last time I heard, Seattle's office building vacancy rate was 30%, the highest in the USA.
The building owner strategy is just to walk away from their loans at a certain financial pain point.
The building ownership falls back on the banks, and then every thing just kind of stops.
Commercial real estate is about to take a haircut. I don’t think it is a great time to own a lot of apartment complexes.
I mean, it all depends on your cash flow but they have so overbuilt apartments and rental homes, rents are not going up while bankruptcies are. Still not many bankruptcies but but they are rising fast.
Meanwhile, that pesky lending rate is staying “higher for longer” as apartment owners look toward rolilng their debt at higher rates.
How do you get $1.2B in debt?
“How do you get $1.2B in debt?”
By using unsecured assets as qualifying collateral for additional loans? That and shady lenders not caring about OPM just their interest and fees off received from lending.
By that standard, he's very wealthy right now.
Going into debt in that scenario can be profitable if one can time the market correctly.
If anyone ever mentions this book to you, they are in Amway. Leveraging debt in real estate is how Dave Ramsey went broke.
I read that guys book and the whole time I am thinking, “this will put me in jail.” He is the ultimate, “you gotta spend money to make money” fraudster. I have my issues with Ramsey but they are just simple things like never using a credit card. (I saved thousands a year using an airline card when I travelled a lot and enjoy the cash back but I pay it off every month so they hate me). My “poor dad” who didn’t follow any of “rich dad’s” advice died wealthy so mum is very comfortable in her advanced age. Not with a billion in debt.
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