Robert Frank’s book Richistan is about the lives of the nouveau riche and those who are part of America’s wealth boom. The book is 250 pages long and fun to read. While we know there are millions of millionaires in the world, Frank exposes them in entirely new ways, from how they hire butlers to the silly ways they make their fortune. Frank gives us perspectives we never think of when it comes to self-made wealthy population.
To begin the book, the author gives the reader an idea of how many millionaires there are in the United States; around eight million in 2003. This number has increased dramatically between 2003 and 2009. He also goes on to define the term “Richistan” and divides his new country into three different categories based on household net worth. Lower Richistan is made up of homes with a value of $ 1 million to $ 10 million. Middle Richistan consists of homes with a value of $ 10 million to $ 100 million. Upper Richistan’s elite consists of homes with a value of $ 100 million to $ 1 billion. There are only several thousand homes in the Alto Richistani category.
Chapter one is titled “Butler Boot Camp: Home Training for the Newly Rich.” This chapter serves as a great introduction to the secret world of wealthy new homes. Frank talks about butler training camps, especially the one held at the prestigious Starkey International Institute for Home Management. Here, men and women are trained to simply run the homes of millionaires and billionaires and are paid a ridiculous amount of money to serve the wants and needs of the super rich. These butlers are paid from $ 75,000 to six-figure territory. They must know how to please the super-rich, and tasks include washing high-end cars, rolling cigars, setting up home entertainment systems, and the usual services like cooking and babysitting.
Chapter Two is titled “The Third Wave: The Age of the Instapreneur.” There are thousands of people who are instantly becoming millionaires each year. In fact, in 2005 there were about 227,000 new financial millionaires in the United States alone. Robert Frank describes in this chapter the six ways that most people acquire their wealth and points to several people who have instantly made millions of dollars through the development and sales of several large companies. Jared Polis, for example, has developed more than a dozen companies and sold them all for more than a total of $ 600 million.
Chapter Three is entitled, “Doing It: Ed Bazinet, King of the Pottery Village.” This chapter is dedicated to those who have made fortunes in an unlikely way. One person mentioned in this chapter is Sydell Miller. Ms. Miller operated a hair salon and developed a shampoo line called Matrix Essentials, which she was fortunate to sell to Bristol-Myers Squibb for just $ 1 billion. Then there’s the man of the chapter’s title, Ed Bazinet, who created miniature ceramic houses and ended up mass-producing them for department stores. By taking a chance and producing his line of mini houses, he is worth more than $ 100 million dollars. This chapter gives you the feeling that anyone can be rich if they have the will and a good idea.
Chapter Four is titled “Living It: Tim Blixseth.” This chapter talks about those who love their work and make their work their life. Men and women like Tim Blixseth don’t seem to have the ability to relax; they are always thinking about business. Tim may be on vacation or relaxing on his yacht, but he never stops working on his business. Blixseth started in business at a young age buying and selling lumber to various other companies and eventually founded the Yellowstone Club, which charges $ 250,000 to join and millions of dollars for the right to build a house on its land. This ultra exclusive club has members like Bill Gates and Dan Quayle who want their own haven where privacy is maximum.
Chapter Six is titled “Barbarians in the Ballroom: New Money vs. Old.” Formal celebrations and dancing are popular in the world of the ultra-rich. People are invited and expected to attend, knowing that a large monetary donation to the charity of their choice is mandatory. The wealthy must donate large amounts of money and when they don’t, controversy arises. Not only are people expected to donate up to millions of dollars at a time, but there is also controversy over who is authorized or nominated to be president of these formal events. The chapter goes on to discuss the homes owned by Donald Trump and Sean Combs and how much the properties can sell in various parts of the country. This chapter is the least interesting in the book, but it still provides good information about the world of the ultra-rich.
Chapter Seven is titled “Size Really Matters: My Boat Is Bigger Than Yours.” The seventh chapter tries to compare the property and expenses of the rich with those of the ultra-rich. Megayachts seem like standard property for a wealthy person these days, and boats come in huge sizes with all sorts of crazy options. Some foreign leaders are having boats about 500 feet long, at a construction cost of more than $ 200 million. The boats come with smaller boats, helicopter pads, dozens of hot tubs, pools, theaters, gold-plated baths, etc. The author goes on to mention how millionaires compare cars, watches, and houses, and spend huge amounts of money just so they can have the biggest and best.
Chapter eight is called “Performance Philanthropy: Give to Get Results.” This chapter is intriguing and is about corporate charity. People like Philip Berber, who made a great deal of money from an online stock trading company that sold for nearly $ 500 million, are finding new ways to spend their money. Berber founded Glimmer of Hope, a company that uses large amounts of money to help make the world a better place. Other millionaires and billionaires like Michael Dell have donated millions of dollars to help Berber build schools, health clinics, water wells and veterinary clinics in countries where poverty is a serious problem. Men and women like Berber and Dell have high hopes of healing the world and have taken the initiative to help fight poverty with the fortunes they have accumulated.
Chapter nine is titled “Move, Christian Coalition: The New Political Kings.” The ninth chapter is about the money that drives politics and campaigns. This chapter presents how legislators ask for money to fuel their campaigns and the differences between the techniques Republicans and Democrats use to find much-needed money. Four Democratic supporters in Colorado helped elect their candidate for the House of Representatives. This not only happened in Colorado and the House of Representatives, but it happens all the time in the race for the presidency of the United States. The Republican Party often makes large sums of money publicly, while the Democratic Party often raises money from the ultra-rich in a more private way. This chapter shows that people will stop at nothing to get their candidate nominated for office, even if it means donating millions of dollars each year.
Chapters ten and eleven are titled “Worried Wealth: The Money Problem” and “Aristokids: We Will Always Have Paris.” These two chapters discuss the problems that arise with large amounts of money. For example, more than half of the super-rich in America agree that money doesn’t buy happiness. Money can dominate their lives and leave little time for personal time with children and spouses. Money can cause so much concern that millionaires have begun meeting in groups to discuss financial matters and meeting with similar people in similar situations to voice their concerns. Who better to talk about your millions of dollars than other millionaires? The final chapter of the book talks about the super rich kids, or those who are in a privileged position to inherit fortunes. Today’s children attend classes to learn manners and live the good life. They are also forced to learn about finances and what to do with millions of dollars, so that when they inherit the money one day, they don’t make reckless decisions or waste money like many of today’s celebrities and heirs / heirs are doing.
Overall, Richistan is an interesting and enlightening book about today’s nouveau riche. This book will keep you reading as you learn facts about the rich you probably never met. The chapters on Prestigious Butlers and “Bigger is Better” are especially interesting and will give you a great insight into how millionaires and billionaires live and spend their fortunes. This book is rated 4.5 out of 5.