Robert Toru Kiyosaki is an American businessman and author whose working life came to centre on personal finance and business education. He founded the Rich Dad Company, a private firm built to deliver financial instruction through books and video content, and established Rich Global LLC as a separate commercial entity. Through those structures he developed and distributed the Rich Dad Poor Dad series — a body of work that placed his name among the most recognisable in personal finance self-education.
Rich Dad Poor Dad frames a contrast between two positions on money: one where income depends on employment, and one where it flows from owned assets that work independently of a salary. The book's central proposition — that financial literacy rather than job security determines long-term independence — found a substantial readership and generated a follow-on series of titles. Through the Rich Dad Company, Kiyosaki extended the material into seminars alongside the books, building a structured offering around a single sustained argument.
Rich Global LLC filed for bankruptcy in 2012. From 2010 onwards, Kiyosaki was the subject of a class action suit brought by people who attended his seminars, and investigative documentaries by the CBC, WTAE-TV, and CBS News examined his business practices during the same period. In January 2024, he disclosed that his personal debts exceeded one billion dollars. The Rich Dad Poor Dad series remains in print; its titles continue to circulate in personal finance reading communities around the world.
Rich Dad Poor Dad
The financial education the school system never gave you — assets vs liabilities, and why the rich don't work for money.