Robert Kiyosaki biography and books

Robert Kiyosaki - Toolshero

Robert Kiyosaki (1947) is an American self-made businessman, investor, author and motivational speaker. He is also the founder of the Cash flow board, a personal leadership tool that helps people organize their personal finance. Robert Kiyosaki is best known as the author of ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, an international bestseller on personal finance, and he furthermore co-authored ‘Why we want you to be rich’, with Donald Trump. This article covers his biography, quotes and publications.

Robert Kiyosaki biography

Robert Kiyosaki was born in the Territory of Hawaii (currently known as Hilo) in 1947. His mother, Marjorie O. Kiyosaki (1921–1971), was a registered nurse and his father, Ralph H. Kiyosaki (1919–1991), was an academic educator. They had four children, two daughters and two sons, of which Robert was the eldest.

He attended Hilo High School and graduated in 1965. After graduating he went to the navy in combination with education. He chose to attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy in New York. He graduated with the class of 1969 as a deck officer, and a commission as a 2nd LT in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Free Toolshero ebook

After graduating from college in New York, Kiyosaki began his career by taking a job with Standard Oil’s tanker. His career with Standard Oil was short and Robert Kiyosaki resigned with the organization after 6 months to join the Marine Corps. He served in the Marine Corps as a helicopter gunship pilot during the Vietnam War in 1972.

In 1974, Robert left the Marine Corps and start working as a salesman in Xerox Corporation. He did this for a couple of years and then started up his own business for the first time.

He had a new concept of wallet which often is referred to as a surfer wallet. On the learning path, he made this concept to a success (a multi-million dollar product).

The next business was almost similar but shifted his targeted consumer group from Surfers to Rockers and their favourite band t-shirts. This wasn’t a success and left him and his family broke, bankrupt and homeless (age 47).

From being broke and homeless, he thought of a new concept on personal finance and how you could learn to be successful on making financial decisions. This was a concept that hit the sweet spot of many people and it became a great success. Within nine years of development and spreading the word about the platform and business idea, he became a multimillionaire, and still is.

Kiyosaki published his first book ‘If You Want to Be Rich and Happy, Don’t Go To School’ in 1992, in which he encourages parents to have their children enter the real estate business instead of sending them to college.

Later, in 1997, he launched his business and financial education company Cashflow Technologies, Inc., which owns and operates the Rich Dad and Cashflow brands.

Kiyosaki’s financial and business teachings focus on generating passive income in order to achieve financial freedom and independence. He shares knowledge on real estate investing, financial planning and avoiding taxes from other authors and experts, which he cites as the ‘Rich Dad Advisors’.

Today, Robert Kiyosaki still runs his business, speaks all over the world and has written numerous of books on being successful with your personal finance, including the use of tools like the Cash flow board.

Famous quotes

  1. “The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.”
  2. “If you want to go somewhere, it is best to find someone who has already been there.”
  3. “When people are lame, they love to blame.”
  4. “Academic qualifications are important and so is financial education. They’re both important and schools are forgetting one of them.”
  5. “We go to school to learn to work hard for money. I write books and create products that teach people how to have money work hard for them.”
  6. “A lot of people are afraid to tell the truth, to say no. That’s where toughness comes into play. Toughness is not being a bully. It’s having backbone.”
  7. “I have a problem with too much money. I can’t reinvest it fast enough, and because I reinvest it, more money comes in. Yes, the rich do get richer.”
  8. “You have to be smart. The easy days are over.”
  9. “When times are bad is when the real entrepreneurs emerge.”
  10. “It’s not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, it’s what you whisper to yourself that has the most power!”
  11. “I’d rather welcome change than cling to the past.”
  12. “You’re only poor if you give up. The most important thing is that you did something. Most people only talk and dream of getting rich. You’ve done something.”

Books and Publications by Robert Kiyosaki et al.

  • 2018. Why The Rich Are Getting Richer. Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
  • 2017. Rich Dad’s Before You Quit Your Job: 10 Real-life Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know about Building a Million-dollar Business. Author’s Republic.
  • 2015. Second Chance: for Your Money, Your Life and Our World. Plata Publishing.
  • 2014. Cashflow Quadrant: Rich dad poor dad. FinanzBuch Verlag.
  • 2011. Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don’t. Plata Publishing.
  • 2010. The Business of the 21st century. DreamBuilders.
  • 2010. If You Want to Be Rich & Happy Don’t Go to School: Insuring Lifetime Security for Yourself and Your Children. Aslan Publishing.
  • 2009. Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money. Business Plus.
  • 2006. Why we want you to be rich. Rich Press.
  • 2004. Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets about Money–that You Don’t Learn in School!. Little Brown Books for Young Readers.
  • 2002. Rich Dad: Guide to Investing.
  • 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! Warner Books.
  • 2001. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!. Business Plus.
  • 2001. The business school for people who like helping people. TechPress, Incorporated.
  • 2000. Rich Dad’s Guide to Becoming Rich… Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards. Grand Central Publishing.
  • 1994. If You Want to Be Rich and Happy, Don’t Go to School: Ensuring Lifetime Security for Yourself. Aslan Publishing.

How to cite this article:
van Vliet, V. (2016). Robert Kiyosaki. Retrieved [insert date] from: https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/robert-kiyosaki/

Original publication date: 11/09/2016 | Last update: 10/09/2023

Add a link to this page on your website:
<a href=”https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/robert-kiyosaki/”>Toolshero: Robert Kiyosaki</a>

Did you find this article interesting?

Your rating is more than welcome or share this article via Social media!

Average rating 4.5 / 5. Vote count: 13

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

Vincent van Vliet
Article by:

Vincent van Vliet

Vincent van Vliet is co-founder and responsible for the content and release management. Together with the team Vincent sets the strategy and manages the content planning, go-to-market, customer experience and corporate development aspects of the company.

Tagged:

Leave a Reply