Well this is embarrassing, Robert Kiyosaki has filed for corporate bankruptcy after being ordered to pay out almost $24 million following a US court ruling.

Kiyosaki’s Rich Global LLC lost a court ruling to The Learning Annex and was ordered to pay $23 687 957,21 to the company and its founder Bill Zanker. According to the ruling, Kiyosaki had reneged on a previously agreed deal which would have seen him pay The Learning Annex a percentage of the profits from engagements arranged by the latter company. Said Mr Zanker:

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 even dropped the names of a few celebrities to drive home his point:

Oprah believed in him, and Will Smith believed in him, but he didn’t keep his promise to us.

Despite the loss, the CEO of Mr Kiyosaki Rich Dad Co., Mike Sullivan, said Kiyosaki himself is not struggling financially and the company which was targeted simply could not handle a payment of that size:

The dealings we had with the 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.

Robert and [wife] Kim are not paying out of personal assets. We have a few million dollars in this company, but not 16 or 20. I can’t do anything about a $20 million judgment . . . We got hit for what we think is a completely outlandish figure.

[Source: news.com.au, NY Post, Daily Mail]