Robert Frank’s book Richistan is about the lives of the nouveau riche and those who make up the boom in wealth that is happening in the United States. The book is 250 pages long and is 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 goofy ways they make their fortunes. Frank gives us perspectives we never thought of when it comes to the self-made rich population.

To start the book, the author gives the reader an idea of ​​how many millionaires there are in America; about eight million as of 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 consists of homes worth $1 million to $10 million dollars. Middle Richistan consists of homes worth $10 million to $100 million. The Upper Richistani elite consists of homes worth $100 million to $1 billion USD. There are only several thousand households in the upper Richistani category.

Chapter one is titled “Butler Boot Camp: Housetraining the New Rich.” This chapter serves as a great introduction to the secret world of new rich households. Frank talks about boot camps for butlers, especially the boot camp 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 cater to the wants and needs of the super-rich. These butlers are paid anywhere from $75,000 dollars all the way up into six-figure territory. They must know how to please the super-rich, and duties 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 becoming instant millionaires every year. In fact, in 2005 there were some 227,000 new financial millionaires in the United States alone. Robert Frank describes in this chapter the six ways most people acquire their wealth and points to several people who instantly made millions of dollars through the development and sale of several large companies. Jared Polis, for example, has built more than a dozen companies and sold them all for more than $600 million in total.

Chapter three is titled “Making It: Ed Bazinet, King of the Pottery Village.” This chapter is dedicated to those who have made their fortune in an unlikely way. One person mentioned in this chapter is Sydell Miller. Ms. Miller operated a beauty salon and developed a line of shampoos called Matrix Essentials, which she was lucky enough to sell to Bristol-Myers Squibb for a mere $1 billion. Then there is the man from the chapter title, Ed Bazinet, who created miniature ceramic houses and ended up mass-producing them for department stores. Taking a chance and producing his line of mini houses is worth over $100 million dollars. This chapter gives you the feeling that anyone can be rich if he has 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 got into business at a young age by buying and selling lumber to various other companies and eventually starting the Yellowstone Club, which charges $250,000 to join and millions of dollars for the right to build a house on their land. . This ultra-exclusive club has members like Bill Gates and Dan Quayle who want their own retreat where privacy is at a premium.

Chapter Six is ​​titled “Barbarians in the Ballroom: New Money vs. Old Money.” Formal celebrations and dances are popular in the world of the ultra-rich. People are invited and expected to attend, knowing that a large monetary donation to their chosen charity is mandatory. The rich must donate large amounts of money, and when they don’t, controversy ensues. 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 chair these formal events. The chapter goes on to discuss the houses owned by Donald Trump and Sean Combs and the selling price of the properties in various parts of the country. This chapter is the least interesting in the book, but it still gives good insights into the world of the ultra-rich.

Chapter seven is titled “Size Does Matter: My Ship Is Bigger Than Yours.” The seventh chapter deals with the comparison of the property and expenses of the rich with the ultra-rich. Mega yachts seem like standard property for a rich person these days, and the ships come in huge sizes with all sorts of crazy options. Some foreign leaders are building ships some 500 feet long, costing more than $200 million to build. The ships come with smaller boats, helipads, dozens of hot tubs, swimming pools, theaters, golden baths, etc. The author goes on to mention how millionaires shop around for 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: Giving for Results.” This chapter is intriguing and is about corporate charity. People like Philip Berber, who made a lot of money with an online stock trading company that he sold for nearly half a billion dollars, 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 amassed.

Chapter nine is titled, “Step aside, Christian Coalition: The New Political Kingmakers.” The ninth chapter deals with the money that drives politics and campaigns. This chapter introduces how legislators ask for money to boost their campaigns and the differences between the techniques Republicans and Democrats use to find much-needed money. Four Democratic supporters in Colorado helped choose 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 more privately. 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 “Concerned Wealth: The Trouble With Money” and “Aristokids: We’ll Always Have Paris.” These two chapters talk about the problems that come with large amounts of money. For example, more than half of America’s super-rich agree that money doesn’t buy happiness. Money can dominate their lives, leaving 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 express their concerns openly. 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 prime position to inherit fortunes. Kids today attend classes to learn manners and live the high 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 and waste the money like many of today’s celebrities and heirs are doing.

Overall, Richistan is an engaging and insightful book about today’s nouveau riche. This book will keep you reading as you learn facts about the rich that you probably never knew. The chapters on prestigious butlers and how “bigger is better” are especially interesting and will give you a great insight into how millionaires and billionaires really live and spend their fortunes. This book has a rating of 4.5 out of 5.