Robert T. Kiyosaki began to publicly emphasize the importance of financial literacy in 1997, around the same time that Suze Orman began to use the same term quite frequently on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Before Kiyosaki's book was released the term was largely unfamiliar to most of the public. In order to becoming financially literate, one must first seek financial education. This can lead to financial independence, and subsequently to wealth building through investments or entrepreneurship. What elevates this book above many other similar publications is its autobiographical style; each financial lesson is an apocryphal story about something that happened to Kiyosaki in his own life.
Kiyosaki is a shining example of practicing what you preach; he initially self-published the book whilst waiting for it to be optioned by a commercial publisher. When it was, it rocketed straight to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Kiyoaski's own financial education began whilst he was still serving in the military when he studied for an MBA at the University of Hawaii. He took a job as a salesman at Xerox, but was hungry to put his entrepreneurial ideas into practice; in 1977 he sold the first velcro-fastened "surfer" wallets and advertised them in various sports publications, but the company went bankrupt. Undaunted he began a business that made merchandise for rock bands, but this, too, went bankrupt. He put this experience to good use and began to teach entrepreneurship and investing. Rich Dad, Poor Dad is his second book; and was the foundation of the Rich Dad Institute over which he still presides.
Although the book was a stellar commercial success, selling over fifty-eight million copies worldwide, not all reviewers felt as positive about it as the public. American real estate mogul John T. Reed called the book one of the dumbest he had ever read and claimed that none of the advice would actually lead to financial security - quite the opposite. Others noted that the advice was entirely to empirical and largely unproven, and that the book is a vague outline of personal finance but not a true road-map to financial freedom.
Like Suze Orman, Kiyosaki was also a favorite guest of The Oprah Winfrey Show and Oprah's recommendation led to an enormous upsurge in sales. Kiyosaki also developed an entire product line based around the book, including audio-courses, seminars and online lectures. He also went on to co-author a book with Donald Trump, and mentored Shark Tank impresario Daymond John. Despite certain criticism from others in the entrepreneurial sector, Kiyosaki is an excellent advertisement for his own advice, having made millions of dollars from the Rich Dad program, which was started by the publication of the book.
