In an ironic turn of events, an author of financial self-help books has had to declare bankruptcy.
Robert Kiyosaki, who has written financial self-help books including “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and the “Rich Dad” series, filed for bankruptcy for one of his companies, The New York Post said.
Kiyosaki’s Rich Global LLC filed for bankruptcy Aug. 20 after a court ordered it to pay nearly $24 million to the Learning Annex and its founder and chairman, Bill Zanker.
Last April, US District Judge Shira Scheindlin ordered Rich Global to pay up $23,687,957.21 after a jury ruled Kiyosaki must give the Learning Annex a percentage of his profits after using its platform for speaking engagements.
The speaking engagements had included a gig at Madison Square Garden in 2002.
“I took Kiyosaki’s brand and made it bigger. The deal was I would get a percentage, and he reneged. We had a signed letter of intent. The Learning Annex is the greatest promoter. We put his ‘Rich Dad’ brand on a stage. We truly prepared him for great fame and riches. But when it was time for him to pay up, he said ‘no,’” Zanker said.
Zanker added the court battle had lasted years, yet he declared corporate bankruptcy.
“Oprah [Winfrey] believed in him, and Will Smith believed in him, but he didn’t keep his promise to us,” he said.
In 1997, Kiyosaki self-published “Rich Dad Poor Dad” came out. It was then picked up by Warner Books and became a New York Times bestseller. Kiyosaki followed it up with the “Rich Dad” series, and now does business through as many as 10 corporations, the New York Post said.
Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Co. CEO Mike Sullivan said Kiyosaki, said to be worth $80 million, was still doing very well due to investments in other companies.
“The dealings we had with Learning Annex were with a company that hasn’t been in business for a number of years … I am not surprised Learning Annex is upset and angry, the money doesn’t exist in that company, and we can’t bring money out of the group,” he said.
He added Robert and wife Kim “are not paying out of personal assets,” though he said the company “got hit for what we think is a completely outlandish figure.”