# Rich Dad Poor Dad

> A self-published personal-finance book reached a reported 20 million worldwide sales.

- Owner: Robert Kiyosaki; originally co-authored with Sharon Lechter; Cashflow Technologies / Plata Publishing
- Kind: Book
- Sector: Media & publishing
- Seed date: 1997-04-08
- Milestone date: Week of Sep 27, 2004
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 20 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Underdog, Maker origin, Platform jump, Controversy, Transgression

## Summary

Kiyosaki and Lechter self-published the book. Warner distributed it before an Oprah appearance, and later editions sustained sales. PW reported more than 44 million lifetime copies in 2025.

## Timeline

- 1997-04-08 — Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter (Retail) — Kiyosaki and Lechter self-published Rich Dad Poor Dad, initially printing 1,000 copies.
- 2000-04-28 — The Oprah Winfrey Show (TV) — Kiyosaki appeared on Oprah after Warner rushed copies of the book to stores.
- 2002-06-03 — Readers on PW’s trade paperback chart (Retail) — The book reached its 100th week on PW’s trade paperback list, with two million copies in print.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/rich-dad-poor-dad

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Rich Dad Poor Dad.” Case HIS-01299. Spread Score v1.2: 20/100. Updated 2026-10-22. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01299