By Ryan C. Wood
I recently erroneously heard on the news that the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad filed for bankruptcy. As a bankruptcy lawyer I immediately went into investigation mode given that I have read a number of Robert Kiyosaki’s books and could not believe he had filed for personal bankruptcy, and of course I was right. Rich Global, LLC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court District of Wyoming, Bankruptcy Case No. 12-20834. Robert Kiyosaki did not file for personal bankruptcy protection as irresponsibly reported on television and by a number of internet articles.
This will be the second article I write regarding the distinction between a corporation or a limited liability company and those who own them. Corporations and limited liability companies are separate legal entities from the shareholders of a corporation or members of the limited liability company. When the corporation or limited liability company files for bankruptcy the owners do not. This distinction seems to be lost on many news organizations and individuals, but not bankruptcy lawyers. To say Robert Kiyosaki filed for bankruptcy is false and unfair. He is a multimillionaire and will most likely continue to be one. I think the most famous victim of falsely being accused of filing for bankruptcy is Donald Trump. To my knowledge, and I am still waiting for someone to prove me wrong, Donald Trump has never filed personal bankruptcy. One of the companies he used to have a significant investment in, formerly known as Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, has filed for bankruptcy protection a number of times. I should know, I still own a few shares of the new company that was formed after the multiple bankruptcy filings of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.
Rich Global, LLC filed for bankruptcy protection on August 20, 2012, as result of Learning Annex Holdings, LLC and Learning Annex, LLC and Learning Annex, L.P. (Case No. 09 Civ. 4432 (SAS)(GWG) winning a judgment against Rich Global, LLC totaling $23,687,957.21. The bankruptcy petition lists $1,794,405.26 in assets and $25,921,205.11 in liabilities. Rich Global, LLC had $591,728.00 in income for 2010 from Profit participation and licensing revenue. Rich Global, LLC did not have any income in 2011 or in 2012. There appears to be other pending lawsuits that entities owned by Robert Kiyosaki are involved in though.