The Richest Man in Babylon

What It's About

First published as a series of pamphlets in the 1920s and later collected into book form, The Richest Man in Babylon uses a set of parables set in the ancient city of Babylon to teach practical principles of personal finance. The central character is Arkad, reputedly the wealthiest man in Babylon, who shares his financial wisdom with friends and students. Through a series of stories — some featuring Arkad directly, others following merchants, slaves, and camel traders — the book builds up a simple but coherent philosophy: spend less than you earn, save consistently, invest wisely, and avoid get-rich-quick schemes.

The most famous of its teachings is the principle of paying yourself first — setting aside at least a tenth of your income before spending anything else. Other lessons cover avoiding bad debts, seeking advice only from those who are competent to give it, and ensuring that money is put to work rather than left idle. The Babylonian setting gives the advice a timeless, fable-like quality, though the financial principles themselves are solidly grounded in common sense.

Some readers find the parable format thin as a literary device, and the book's ideas, while sound, are not original — versions of the same principles appear in earlier financial writing. Critics also note that it skirts the structural and circumstantial barriers that can make wealth-building genuinely difficult. That said, as an accessible and memorable introduction to basic financial discipline, it has few rivals in the genre.

About the Author

George Samuel Clason (1874–1957) was an American businessman and author who founded the Clason Map Company of Denver, Colorado, which published the first road atlas of the United States and Canada. He began writing the Babylonian parables in the early 1920s as pamphlets distributed through banks and insurance companies, a format that proved highly effective and gave the material its wide early reach.