Robert Kiyosaki is the author of the best-selling self-help book Rich Dad Poor Dad; however, it now appears that he's In Debt, Dad.
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During a recent appearance on the "Get Rich Education" podcast, Kiyosaki admitted that he's "a billion two in debt."
It's worth noting that Kiyosaki believes he understands how to use debt to live a financially free life. He doubled down on that belief during the podcast episode.
"I studied it since 1974... If you're going to learn to use debt, you'd better take some education," he said.
Of course, whenever a financial guru is discussing debt, things are never as simple as simply owing a huge sum of money. Kiyosaki's wife, Kim, recently tried to clear things up during an interview with Vanity Fair.
"We have a lot of apartment houses with our partners," Kim said. "So technically, yes, we have all this debt."
Vanity Fair then noted that the debt is attached to 'real assets,' and that Kiyosaki's ownership share of that debt is likely far smaller than the $1.2 billion that is getting thrown around.
"Kiyosaki's personal share of the debt is small," Vanity Fair details. "If his income is, as he tells me, about $3 million a year, that implies his portion could be $30 million to $60 million."
Robert Kiyosaki Is Using the $1.2 Billion Figure as a Shock Factor
When asked why her husband, Robert, has personally used the $1.2 billion figure when discussing his debt, Kim noted that it was likely for the shock factor.
"He loves to say things that shock," Kim explained. "And then he can explain it in more detail, why investment debt is good."
You've got to give it to Kioysaki; he knows how to play the game. Not only the debt game, but the marketing game. He's gotten people talking about him again, which in turn means his book is back in the public eye.
The truth is, we're never going to get a full read on Kiyosaki's finances, so we'll likely never know how much debt he's actually in vs. what's leveraged against assets. Still, $1.2 billion is a scary number, regardless of how well you understand finance.
