Robert Kiyosaki says he owes $1.2 billion. The “Rich Dad Poor Dad” author borrowed that money against apartment buildings, not against the Bitcoin (BTC) and gold he promotes to millions of followers.

His former wife and business partner, Kim Kiyosaki, said the figure covers borrowing shared with partners across roughly 1,500 units. Her account puts his own exposure far below the headline.

The $1.2 Billion Is a Partnership Total

Kiyosaki has repeated the number all summer, most recently on the “Get Rich Education” podcast.

“So, I’m a billion two in debt,” the New York reported, citing Kiyosaki.

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Vanity Fair, whose profile

The mechanics are ordinary multifamily finance. When a building appreciates, the owners refinance, and the cash arrives untaxed because nothing was sold. Each deal also sits inside its own limited liability company (LLC), so trouble at one property does not travel to the rest.

Not everyone reads that as safety. John Poole, founder of the Scottsdale consultancy JPTD Partners, told

“Leverage works beautifully on the way up, and if it’s not continuing on that way up, then it’s like a chainsaw financially coming down,”

Bitcoin and Gold Sit on the Other Side

The debt story lands awkwardly because Kiyosaki spends most of his airtime telling followers to hold gold and Bitcoin rather than dollars. In July he named Bitcoin and Ethereum beside gold as his own defense against a currency he calls fake.

Those holdings are not the collateral. BTC, which trades near $77,425 after slipping 1.8% in a day, secures none of the loans described in the reporting. The mortgages sit on brick and rent rolls.

That leaves a tension he rarely addresses. He warns that cheap credit will break the system, even as US borrowing nears $40 trillion, while running a portfolio that depends on the same credit staying available.

History gives the caution some weight. One of his companies, Rich Global LLC, filed for Chapter 7 in 2012 after losing a judgment, according to ABC News.

Refinancing keeps working while rents cover payments and lenders keep lending. Will Kiyosaki’s followers really understand which half of his message carries the risk?

Source: BeInCrypto