Previously, MLM Skeptic has raised the question whether Robert Kiyosaki had made a Faustian bargain with Network Marketing
That's when someone pointed me to this sound-bite from Amquix, which confirmed that Kiyosaki was a downline in Amway under Bill Galvin.
http://www.amquix.info/sounds/kiyosaki_in_amway.mp3
Bill Galvin was a "diamond" level sales leader in Amway from way back when. In fact, he was thanked in the dedication / acknowledgement page of "Rich Dad Poor Dad". Here's a screenshot from the Amazon "look inside" and there's the name "Bill Galvin" right there.
This is also confirmed via research done by SimpleDollar
He [Robert T. Kiyosaki] was involved in several business deals (most notably, nylon Velcro wallets) in the 1970s and 1980s which fell apart, leaving him bankrupt in the mid-1980s. In this timeframe, he became heavily involved with Amway, a multi-level marketing system, and began to cultivate relationships with many of the “top” members. In 1985, Kiyosaki founded Cashflow Technologies, a company that was designed to pitch a series of books and other educational materials that eventually evolved into Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
Amway Global (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By the mid-1990s, Kiyosaki had self-printed Rich Dad, Poor Dad and it was starting to appear in wide distribution among members of the Amway/Quixtar organization, as individuals higher in the pyramid would recommend it to people further down the chain looking to get ahead.Yet you NEVER hear Kiyosaki talk about his MLM career, did you? Nope. It was NOT mentioned in ANY of his books.
Perhaps he doesn't want you to know, hmmm?
But wait, there's more!
Kiyosaki's direct involvement with Amway was further corroborated by a comment sent to John T. Reed:
I attended a Quixtar (aka, QuixScam, Amway, AmQuix, Scamway, etc.) conference in the Fall of 2000 at which he [Kiyosaki] was a keynote speaker. He espoused network marketing and recommended complete dedication to building the Quixtar pyramid business even though he hadn’t found pyramid businesses worth his time. Ultimately, RK has found a way to obtain significant financial benefit from pyramid-based businesses without having to build one of his own.
The story is that Bill Galvin discovered his book at a carwash in (or about) Houston Texas. At that time, RK could not get his book published and distributed in a more traditional manner. Bill Galvin is a diamond under the Dexter Yager organization for Amway/Quixtar. In fact, I still have an old prospecting tape of a dialogue between Bill Galvin and Robert Kiyosaki. You can have it if you want it. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. By the way, the tapes he produces for Amway/Quixtar diamonds are also distributed by the 10’s of thousands for which he gets a cut of each $6 tape that costs less than $1 to produce.
Anyway, Bill Galvin distributed RDPD to the "leaders" in his group. Bill and his leaders loved the book, so they contacted RK to buy more. The distribution of motivational tools in the Amway/Quixtar distributor networks is extremely efficient (and profitable for higher ups). His popularity grew quickly as his books were channeled to many thousands of lower level distributors by diamond distributors. Distributors would often buy several to hand out while prospecting new recruits. Not wanting to be left in the dust, other MLM networks picked up on the book and it has spread through their organizations as well. I would guess that the MLM industry was responsible for putting RK on the best seller list.Furthermore, if you look in the "acknowledgements" of Rich Dad Poor Dad, you'll find Bill Galvin's name among the list of people Kiyosaki thanked.
Here's further proof that Kiyosaki had been selling "motivational tools" pushing Amway back in 1990's... Here's some of Yager Organization (to which Bill Galvin belongs) motivation cassette tapes they used to sell to the Amway noobs... and were found on eBay, of all places. Here's the listing... and in the middle, is Kiyosaki!
At the MINIMUM, Robert Kiyosaki was a part of the "Amway Tool Scam". These tapes were going for $6 each 15 years ago, and there are HUNDREDS of them. As for what is the extent of Amway Tool Scam, and how this type of scam had spread way beyond Amway, I'll instead point you at the Amway Tool Scam website so you can read it for yourself.
The conclusion is quite clear. Robert Kiyosaki's success, i.e. his estimated net worth of $80 million, did not come from his financial acumen or knowledge. It came from the Faustian bargain with network marketing industry where they promised to make each other rich.
And all that money making them rich are coming from you MLM noobs who had NO IDEA what you're getting into...
