Richistan

I know that I am seven years late but I picked up the book Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich by Robert Frank at the library yesterday. Frank is or was a writer for the Wall Street Journal and did a book about the three levels of the glorious land of Richistan, people with a net worth of up to ten million dollars, ten to a hundred and hundred to a billion.

He travels to Greenwich, the now defunct Yellowstone Club and Palm Beach and dishes on the habits of the then pre recession wealthy in America, at least some of whom are now presumably dumpster diving in abject poverty.

The book is great, you learn about liquidity events, household managers, butler college, rich kids summer camp, people with 200' yachts with inferiority complexes because they berth next to 400' yachts. I couldn't put it down. Frank wrote a sequel in 2011 titled The High-Beta Rich: How the Manic Wealthy Will Take Us to the Next Boom, Bubble, and Bust that is now a must read.

Tore through Richistan in less than two hours. Funny and insightful. Pick it up.