Reading between the lines, I'm guessing his "debt" is secured with assets, so not an actual debt. He is just making a point that you don't have to spend your own money to invest. He still owns stuff that's paid off and isn't threatened.
debt secured with assets is still debt. When the assets go south, you are expected to cover the difference (think like a margin call in your brokerage account). When you can't cover the loan call, you have to declare bankruptcy and the banks will start seizing your other assets. Banks do that with personal guarantees (unless they are not allowed to by law - like in states with a homestead act). This applies to billionaires as well as the merely wealthy. No bank will let you borrow to buy bitcoin with no recourse. This whole thing is made up. I think a Yahoo! reporter took an old joke and ran with it. The joke was made by a real estate developer in Asia.
I think the premise of the book is correct,but thats about it. Also,on that entire page,Think and grow rich is more valuable than the rest combined. Also,if this is the internet debut of 'entremanure's' then I hope to see it far more often in the future and tell people how I was there at its birth! haha
Not in the sense that it's made to look. It's not like he owes $1.2B and cannot pay it back. He may be worth $2B and borrow $1.2B, while everyone is discussing it like he's bankrupt.