Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and author, known for the Rich Dad Poor Dad series of personal finance books. He founded the Rich Dad Company, which provides personal finance and business education through books and videos, and Rich Global LLC, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Kiyosaki was sued in a class action suit filed by attendees of his seminars, and is the subject of investigative documentaries by the CBC, WTAE-TV and CBS News.
Also recorded as Robert Toru Kiyosaki · Robert T. Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki

Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America · Robert Kiyosaki · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Robert Kiyosaki
- Birth Name
- Robert Toru Kiyosaki
- Born
- 8 April 1947
- Birthplace
- Hilo, Territory of Hawaii, U.S.
- Occupation
- Businessman, author
- Nationality
- United States
- Education
- University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo · United States Merchant Marine Academy · Hilo High School
- Known for
- Rich Dad Poor Dad
- Honours
- Air Medal
- Languages
- Japanese · English
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Documentary summary
Robert Toru Kiyosaki (born April 8, 1947) is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and author, known for the Rich Dad Poor Dad series of personal finance books. He founded the Rich Dad Company, which provides personal finance and business education through books and videos, and Rich Global LLC, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Kiyosaki was sued in a class action suit filed by attendees of his seminars, and is the subject of investigative documentaries by the CBC, WTAE-TV and CBS News.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q311147 · wikipedia · Robert Kiyosaki
In this article
Biography
Biography
Robert Kiyosaki studied at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, United States Merchant Marine Academy and Hilo High School. The recorded working language is Japanese and English. Works named in the authority record are Rich Dad Poor Dad. Distinctions recorded are Air Medal.

Robert Kiyosaki speaking at a gala event for Ben Carson hosted by Wake Up America at the Westin Kierland Resort Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America · Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki speaking at a gala event for Ben Carson hosted by Wake Up America at the Westin Kierland Resort Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America · Robert Kiyosaki
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Robert Kiyosaki • Birth Name — Robert Toru Kiyosaki • Born — 8 April 1947 • Birthplace — Hilo, Territory of Hawaii, U.S. • Occupation — Businessman, author • Subject — Personal finance, business investing • Years Active — 1973–1994 1997–present • Notable Works — Rich Dad Poor Dad • Website — www.richdad.com
Early life and education
Early life and education
Kiyosaki was born in 1947 in Hilo, Territory of Hawaii to Ralph (d. 1991) and Majorie Kiyosaki, who was a nurse. He is the eldest child of a family of Japanese descent. One of his sisters, Tenzin Kacho, was a nun ordained by the Dalai Lama who worked at a Buddhist center in Long Beach, California. The other sister is a graphic designer, and his brother works in property management. Kiyosaki's father was an educator, once appointed as Hawaii's superintendent of schools. He also ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant-governor in the Republican Party ticket in the 1970 Hawaii gubernatorial election. He lost his job after the election and used his savings to acquire an ice-cream franchise that eventually failed. He later worked for labor unions. Kiyosaki attended Manoa Elementary School before moving to Hilo. He then graduated from Hilo High School, from which he was nearly expelled due to poor grades. In 1965, he attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating four years later as a deck officer. After traveling on ships of Matson, Inc. as a midshipman, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer. Kiyosaki served as a helicopter gunship pilot during the Vietnam War and was once based in Kaneohe Bay.
Early enterprises
Early enterprises
In 1977, Kiyosaki started a company called "Rippers" that marketed nylon and Velcro wallets. After the company went bankrupt, he became a sales associate at Xerox until June 1978. In the 1980s, Kiyosaki became a motivational speaker in San Diego who ran a course on Erhard Seminars Training (EST) techniques called Money and You. He had attended the course in 1974 given by the course's creator, Marshall Thurber. In 1984, Thurber transferred the business to Kiyosaki and D.C. Cordova, who then expanded the course beyond the U.S. The course at one point had tens of thousands of students internationally. The business nearly collapsed in Australia in October 1993 after the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners program aired a documentary about emotional abuse in the course. The documentary interviewed several past course attendees who "felt like they were being brainwashed." One participant said "he was depressed and mentally and physically devastated after attending, and said it took him two weeks to recover." The program included footage of a Money and You course in which people were "driven to the depths of despair or to near-hysteria." An expert on cults noted similarities between Kiyosaki's course and the methods of Scientology. Kiyosaki said the program was "unfair" and considered suing the ABC before deciding against it. He left the business in 1994.
Financial education efforts
Financial education efforts
In 1993, Kiyosaki published his first book, If You Want to Be Rich and Happy, Don't Go to School? In his book, he encouraged parents not to send their children to college and instead to enter the real estate business. Kiyosaki founded Cashflow Technologies (in 1997), a holding company that as of 2002 owned and operated the Rich Dad brand—as well as the Cashflow brand—a holding company that as of that year, Kiyosaki was "preparing to phase himself out of". Kiyosaki created the Cashflow board and video games to educate adults and children about business and financial concepts. Kiyosaki settled a lawsuit in 2008 brought by Sharon Lechter, his former business partner, with an undisclosed sum. Lechter said Kiyosaki and his wife had enriched themselves and redirected assets in the business, which the Kiyosakis denied. She sold her stake in Rich Dad Company to them after the settlement and ended the partnership that lasted about 10 years.
Other businesses
Other businesses
Kiyosaki's earlier two businesses (for surfing bags with Velcro fasteners and T-shirts) went bankrupt. Kiyosaki operates through a number of companies that he owns fully or in part, and through franchisee arrangements with other companies authorized to use his name for a fee. This includes Rich Dad LLC, Whitney Information Network, Rich Dad Education and Rich Dad Academy. The company's main revenues come from franchisees of the Rich Dad seminars that are conducted by independent individuals using Kiyosaki's brand name. In 2012, Kiyosaki's company, Rich Global LLC, filed for bankruptcy and was ordered to pay $23.7 million to The Learning Annex and its founder, because Kiyosaki had used The Learning Annex for speaking opportunities. Mike Sullivan, the CEO of Rich Dad Company, one of at least 10 companies through which Kiyosaki conducts business, said Rich Global LLC had been dormant for years. At bankruptcy, the company had nearly $26 million in liabilities and $1.8 million in assets.
Business and financial advice
Business and financial advice
Kiyosaki has authored more than 26 books including Rich Dad Poor Dad, which has been translated into dozens of languages. As of 2017, nearly 40 million copies of the book had been sold. He said his books were an advertisement for his higher-priced seminars. Kiyosaki's financial and business teachings claim that financial independence can be achieved through passive income. He also claims that wealth cannot be achieved from going to school and obtaining a traditional job. He advocates for using what he calls "good debt" as leverage to buy financial assets such as real estate. In January 2024, Kiyosaki stated that he had more than $1 billion in debt. Additionally, he is a strong proponent of buying gold and silver, often referring to them as "God's money." In May 2025, Kiyosaki reiterated his advocacy for cryptocurrency, writing on X (formerly Twitter) that even holding 0.01 Bitcoin could "maybe make you very rich" within two years. In 2006 and 2007, Kiyosaki's Rich Dad seminars continued to promote real estate as a sound investment, just before their prices came crashing down. In 2010, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Marketplace broadcast a documentary on scams that were being perpetuated by Kiyosaki's company in Canada in the guise of "Rich Dad" seminars. Investments in trailers and trailer parks, which seminar instructors claimed to be evidence of success, were found to be barren and unused land. Also in 2010, Allan Roth of CBS News documented what occurred when he attended one of Rich Dad's free seminars and dissected some of the tactics employed. WTAE-TV, the ABC television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, produced another critical segment about Kiyosaki in 2013. Kiyosaki's advice has also been criticized for emphasizing anecdotes and no concrete advice on how readers should proceed or work.
Personal life
Personal life
Kiyosaki divorced from his first wife when he was 32. Kiyosaki met his second wife and business partner Kimberly "Kim" Kiyosaki (née Meyer) in 1984, and they got married in 1986. They amicably divorced in 2017. When asked about his net worth, Kiyosaki claimed to be more than $1 billion in debt, indicating that being such was not, in his view, "his problem".
Political views
Political views
Kiyosaki endorsed and supported Republican candidate Donald Trump for the 2016 presidential elections. At that time (2015), Kiyosaki had co-authored two books with Trump (and others). Kiyosaki has also criticized Bernie Sanders for being a "hardcore Marxist".
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1947–2021
The full dated record · 3 entries
1947
Robert Kiyosaki born at Hilo.
1997
67 Rich Dad And Robert Kiyosaki Quotes On Business And Money (1997) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2021
Por Que Los Ricos Se Vuelven Ma Robert T. Kiyosaki ( 33) (2021) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Published works
• Rich Dad Poor Dad – What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money – That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (first published in 1997) Warner Business Books.. • Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom (2000).. • Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (2000).. • The Business School for People Who Like Helping People (March 2001). – endorses multi-level marketing • Rich Dad's Rich Kid, Smart Kid: Giving Your Children a Financial Headstart (2001).. • Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich (2002).. • Rich Dad's Prophecy: Why the Biggest Stock Market Crash in History Is Still Coming… and How You Can Prepare Yourself and Profit from It! (2002). Warner Books.. • Rich Dad's The Business School: For People Who Like Helping People (2003). • Rich Dad's Who Took My Money?: Why Slow Investors Lose and Fast Money Wins! (2004). • Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets About Money – That You Don't Learn in School! (2004). • Rich Dad's Before You Quit Your Job: 10 Real-Life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Building a Multimillion-Dollar Business (2005).. • Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message (2006) with co-authors Donald Trump, Meredith McIver, and Sharon L. Lechter., Newark, NJ: Rich Publications LLC. See this or this link, accessed August 6, 2025. • Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money (2008).. • Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money (2009). • The Real Book of Real Estate: Real Experts. Real Stories. Real Life. (2009). • An Unfair Advantage: The Power of Financial Education (2011).. • Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich And Why Most Don't (2011), with coauthor Donald Trump., Scottsdale, AZ: Plata Publishing. See this or this link, accessed August 6, 2025. • Why 'A' Students Work for 'C' Students and Why 'B' Students Work for the Government: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Education for Parents (2013).. • The Business of the 21st Century (2010), co-written with John Fleming and Kim Kiyosaki. • Second Chance: for Your Money, Your Life and Our World (2015) • 8 Lessons in Military Leadership for Entrepreneurs: How Military Values and Experience Can Shape Business and Life (2015) • Why the Rich are Getting Richer: What is Financial Education...Really? (2017) • FAKE: Fake Money, Fake Teachers, Fake Assets: How Lies Are Making the Poor and Middle Class Poorer (2019) • Who Stole My Pension?: How You Can Stop The Looting (2020) • Capitalist Manifesto (2021)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Kim, Susanna. 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' Author Files for Bankruptcy for His Company. ABC News. 12 October 2012.
- 2.Olen, Helaine. This Legal Dispute Says Everything About the Shadiness of Personal Finance Gurus. Slate. 11 February 2016.
- 3.CBC. Marketwatch – Rich dad's seminar's deceptive marketplace. February 24, 2010.
- 4.Yoshikawa, Mai. 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' Author Robert Kiyosaki Appeals for Financial Literacy. The Japan Times. Kyodo. January 18, 2018.
- 5.Tan, Sumiko. Lunch With Sumiko: I Was a Late Bloomer, Says Rich Dad Poor Dad Author Robert Kiyosaki. The Straits Times. January 12, 2020.
- 6.Sahagun, Louis. Blending Her Spirituality and His Materialism. Los Angeles Times. February 9, 2009.
- 7.Zia, Hoyt. Rich Son, Poor Son. Hawaii Business. April 2006.
- 8.Carbonara, Peter. Poor Man's Prophet Robert Kiyosaki, Author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad Says That Everything You've Been Told About Money is a Lie. Is His Vision Setting Us on the Right Track—Or Is It Just More Financial Snake Oil?. Money. January 1, 2003.
- 9.Magin, Janis. 'Rich Dad' Author Returning to Hawaii to Speak, But Not Invest. Pacific Business News. October 2, 2019.
- 10.Caraccio, David. Investor, Author of 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' Lists Hawaii Home on Edge of Ocean for $7.35M. The Sacramento Bee. July 25, 2022.
- 11.Date, Margot. Fire alarm at 'cult training. The Sydney Morning Herald. 4. 4 October 1993.
- 12.Date, Margot. Fire and new-age fright. The Sydney Morning Herald. 45. 4 October 1993.
- 13.Kiyosaki, Robert. If You Want to Be Rich & Happy Don't Go to School: Ensuring Lifetime Security for Yourself and Your Children. Aslan publications. 1 April 1993. 978-0-944031-38-4.
- 14.Youn, Jacy L. Robert Kiyosaki. Hawaii Business. June 2002.
- 15.Entity Details—Secretary of State, Nevada. Nevada Secretary of State. August 2025.
- 16.Trademark Electronic Search System: RICH DAD. USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System. August 2025.
- 17.Harris, Craig. 'Rich Dad' Partners Settle Suit, Call It Quits. The Arizona Republic. 2008-09-04.
- 18.Interview with Robert Kiyosaki. CNN Money. 1 July 2015.
- 19.Jaffe, Chuck. 'Teach Me to Trade' Seminar is a Lesson in Futility. MarketWatch. 10 February 2006.
- 20.Jaffe, Chuck. 'Rich Dad Academy' a Poor Choice for Investors. MarketWatch. 13 July 2017.
- 21.Kerkhof, Robyn. Robert Kiyosaki Net Worth: Exploring the Financial Success of the Rich Dad Poor Dad Author. Blinkist. August 2025.
- 22.ABC News Staff. Robert Kiyosaki Files for Bankruptcy, Again. ABC News. 12 October 2012.
- 23.Roth, Allan. Rich Dad, Poor Dad's Bankrupt Company. CBS News. 2013-01-20.
- 24.NY Post Staff. Rich 'Dad,' Bankrupt Dad. New York Post (NY Post). October 10, 2012.
- 25.Shiller, Robert J. 'Gut Feelings' Are Driving the Markets. The New York Times. January 2, 2020.
- 26.Yardney, Michael. Do Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad Poor Dad" Lessons Still Apply? Here's What I Learned From My Interview with Him. Property Update. 7 October 2022.
- 27.Silva, Derek. Robert Kiyosaki—Everything You Need to Know. SmartAsset. 21 September 2022.
- 28.Schnabel, Chris. Robert Kiyosaki: Traditional School is Useless. Rappler. December 1, 2015.
- 29.Jansen, Kellan. Robert Kiyosaki Says Good Debt Makes You Richer—Here's How. Nasdaq.com. April 30, 2024.
- 30.Mancini, Jeannine. 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' Author Robert Kiyosaki on His $1.2 Billion Debt: 'If I Go Bust, the Bank Goes Bust'. Yahoo Finance. January 22, 2024.
- 31.Lang, Hannah Erin. Robert Kiyosaki, Author of 'Rich Dad Poor Dad,' Says He's More Than $1 Billion in Debt—But That's 'Not My Problem'. MarketWatch. 2024-01-03.
- 32.Gold is God's Money, Says Author Kiyosaki. Bloomberg Markets:Asia. 2019-10-22.
- 33.Robert Kiyosaki: Bitcoin is the 'easiest money ever'. Yahoo Finance. 2025-05-26.
- 34.Kiyosaki Calls Bitcoin the Easiest Way to Get Rich. CryptoPulse.News. 2025-05-26.
- 35.Jaffe, Chuck. Stupid Investment of the Week. MarketWatch.
- 36.CBC. Season 37: 3. Road to Rich Dad. Marketplace. August 2025.
- 37.Roth, Allan. Rich Dad Education—The Ultimate Emotional Investment. CBS News. 4 March 2010.
- 38.Van Osdol, Paul. 'Rich Dad' Author's Seminars Cost Thousands, But Not Everyone Gets Rich. WTAE-TV. 9 May 2013.
- 39.Sing, Terrence. Writer Ignores Critics of His Self-Help Success. Pacific Business News. American City Business Journals. July 13, 2003.
- 40.Kiyosaki, Robert T. If You Want to Be Rich and Happy Don't Go to School. Excellerated Learning Publishing. 1992. 9780646079370.
- 41.Byrne, Brendan. Robert Kiyosaki Net Worth: A Comprehensive Overview of The Rich Dad, Poor Dad Author's Wealth. Value Walk. 2024-06-10.
- 42.Royle, Orianna Rosa. 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' Author Reveals He's $1 billion in Debt—But Says Going Bust Would 'Not Be His Problem'. Fortune.com. 2024-01-04.
- 43.Kiyosaki, Robert. Why America Needs Donald Trump. Jetset Magazine. 20 October 2015.
- 44.Trump, Donald. Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message. Rich Publications LLC. 2006. 1933914025.
- 45.Trump, Donald. Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich And Why Most Don't. Plata Publishing. 2011. 978-1612680958.
References
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reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q311147: Robert KiyosakiWikimedia Foundation
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1- Air MedalTerminology
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
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Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Robert Toru Kiyosaki and Robert T. His recorded languages were Japanese and English. He married Kim Kiyosaki. Formation and teaching. Kiyosaki studied at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, United States Merchant Marine Academy and Hilo High School. Recorded as having studied at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, United States Merchant Marine Academy and Hilo High School.
Identity and origins
Activity and practice
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
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