[Digital Today reporter Yoonseo Lee] Robert Kiyosaki, author of 'Rich Dad Poor Dad', is again in the spotlight over real estate-related debt totaling $1.2 billion. The debt is not described as personal debt he has taken on, but as debt set against real estate assets he owns.

On Sept. 1, blockchain media outlet U.Today reported that attention is focusing on how Kiyosaki’s long-emphasised investment strategy aligns with his actual debt structure.

Kiyosaki has argued that using debt to buy income-generating assets can be a tool to build wealth. He has been reported as favouring a method of borrowing more based on asset value without selling the underlying assets, then using the funds to buy other assets or secure liquidity.

Kim Kiyosaki, his former spouse and business partner, said in an interview with Vanity Fair that a significant portion of the total debt is tied to about 1,500 apartment units. She explained that the debt Kiyosaki actually bears is far smaller than the overall amount.

Vanity Fair estimated that the effective debt burden, reflecting Kiyosaki’s ownership stake, would be about $30 million to $60 million (4.11 billion won to 8.22 billion won). As a result, market attention is focusing less on the headline total debt and more on an asset management structure using leverage.

In this situation, Kiyosaki’s bitcoin outlook is also being mentioned again. Kiyosaki is regarded as a prominent bitcoin bull. In June 2024, he forecast that bitcoin could reach $350,000 by Aug. 25. He later drew a line that it was a prediction rather than a guaranteed outcome, but maintained his view that it could reach that level.

His optimism continued in 2025. He set a bitcoin target price of $350,000, then widened his 2025 target range to $175,000 to $350,000. He also forecast that bitcoin would eventually rise above $1 million.

The debt controversy does not change the bitcoin price forecast itself. It has put Kiyosaki’s investment philosophy and market message back under scrutiny, as he runs an investment empire that uses large-scale borrowing while continuing to present unusually high future prices for digital assets.

Kiyosaki has long treated debt not as risk itself but as a means to increase assets. With the need reaffirmed to distinguish personal debt from portfolio-level debt, the market mood is to look at his actual asset structure and leverage level alongside his ultra-bullish bitcoin outlook.