The Richest Man in Babylon 

 
The Richest Man in Babylon is one of the best books on finance. The simplicity 
with which George Clason explains the concepts of finance, like why you need to 
learn the simple rules of finance, and how you should manage money are 
the best I have seen someone explain Finance. 
 
This is summary of the book: 
 

Chapter 1: The man who desired gold: 

 
Once in the city of Babylon, which was the richest city in the World at it's time, 
there were two friends Bansir and Kobbi. They were having a conversation about 
how they were so poor, and there were people in the same city who were so rich. 
They were wondering, what was it that made some people so rich while others 
remained poor. Then, they thought of why not ask this to someone who is himself, 
has acquired wealth and they went to meet Arkad, who was their childhood 
friend, and who was now "the richest man in all of Babylon". 
 

Chapter 2: The richest man in Babylon: 

 
When his friends reached out to Arkad to ask for wisdom with which he has 
accumulated so much wealth, Arkad started telling them his story. Arkad gave the 
following advice: 
 
1. Save at least one-tenth of what you earn 
2. Make your money work for you 
3. Seek the advice of men whose daily work is handling money. Let them save 
you from making investment errors. 
4. Have willower. Always complete a work once you start. Make reasonable 
goals. 
 

Chapter 3: Seven cures for a lean purse: 

When king of babylon saw so much disparity between rich and poor in his city, he 
asked for the reason from his counselor and found out that was because people 
did not know how to manage their wealth. Thus, King called for Arkad, the richest 
man, so that he can advise 100 men from city on wealth. Arkad started having 
gatherings with these people and telling them the fundamentals of wealth 
accumulation. 
These are the principles he taught them: 
 
1. Spend only nine-tenth of what you earn, and you will be not shorter than 
before on money and you will be saving one-tenth of income. 
2. Remember the dictum “First earn, then save and spend from what’s left 
after saving.” 
3. Do not keep your savings idle. Make them work for you and you will see 
your money getting multiplied. 
4. Do not lose your money in false lucrative schemes and seek advice from 
experts for handling money. 
5. Make preparations for a suitable income in the days to come, when you 
are no longer young, and make preparations for your family, should you be 
no longer with them to comfort and support them. Provide in advance for 
the needs of your growing age and the protection of your family." 
6. Always be willing to learn something new, to study and become wiser, to 
become more skillful. 
 

Chapter 4: Meet the goddess of luck 

Arkad continues with his discussions. One night, they start discussing about how 
luck plays a factor in earning wealth. Arkad says when you invest your money in 
something that is based on luck/chance, chances of profit are always against 
you. However, luck plays an important factor in you earning opportunities. When 
you are lucky enough to earn an opportunity which might improve you , do not 
deny such opportunity. Be willing to learn about money management from a 
young age and you shall achieve great financial prosperity. Remember, Men of 
action and willpower are favored by the goddess of luck. 
 
 

Chapter 5: The five laws of gold 

It is common for a child to think that he will inherit all the money from his father 
that his father earned. But, Arkad did not allow his son Nomasir to inherit all the 
money from him. He wanted his son to prove his worth on his father’s wealth. 
Therefore, Arkad gave some gold and five tablets with wisdom inscribed on them 
and Nomasir left the house for earning money. 
Nomasir spent all the gold within few days and was stranded but wisdom by his 
father helped him earn all the gold he lost and even more. 
Those tablets consisted following wisdom: 
 
1. Money comes gladly to person who saves one-tenth of is wealth. 
2. Money earns more money for one who uses it diligently. 
3. Money stays with one who invests it wisely after consultation from wise 
men. 
4. Money slips from the hands of those who invest it in business and activities 
 they are not familiar with. 
5. Money flies from the hands of those who get caught in alluring advice of 
tricksters and schemes. 
 
When Nomasir returned, he told his father that value of wisdom that you gave me 
has far higher value than gold that you gave me. 
 

Chapter 6: The gold lender of babylon 

 
There was once a man in babylon who earned 50 gold coins for his recent good 
work. But, now he was confused with how to invest that money and also sad 
because his sister, whom he loved and cared about a lot, wanted him to give 
those coins to her husband so that he can become a merchant with the help of 
those coins. So, the man went to the gold lender of babylon for the advise. Gold 
lender was surprised to see that someone has approached him for advice. The 
gold lender taught the man a lot about how lending works, how to use the money 
efficiently. For sister, gold lender told him to tell her that, “You are my favoured 
sister and I wish that your husband may engage in business in which he will 
prosper greatly. If he will submit to me a plan that seems wise and possible to my 
friend, Gold Lnder, then will I gladly lend to him my savings of an entire year(50 
coins) that he may have an opportunity to prove that he can succeed.” Do that, 
said gold lender, and if he has within him the soul to succeed he can prove it. If 
he fails he will not owe thee more than he can hope someday to repay. He told 
him to not lose his money. He told him that first ensure the safety of your money, 
then make sure that your money earns for you i.e proper investment. He told him 
that “Better a little caution than great regret”. 
 

Chapter 7 : The Walls of Babylon 

In this chapter, the author tells a story of how a lot of armies attacked babylon, 
but could never conquer it because walls of babylon were so strong that no 
enemy could break it. Similarly, we should offer our money much needed 
protection so that it protects us when we are in need. We cannot afford to be 
without adequate protection. Behind the impregnable walls of insurance, savings 
accounts and dependable investments, we can guard ourselves against the 
unexpected tragedies that may enter any door and seat themselves before any 
fireside. 

Chapter 8 & 9 : The camel trader of babylon and his tablets 

Debasir was a camel trader in Babylon. He had lent money to Tarkad. One day he 
met Tarkad, who was not able to pay him the money and offered him to come 
along with him and tell him the story of how he transformed himself from a slave 
to a trader. Debasir began by telling how he was once caught in a loot and then 
went on to get sold to a merchant in Syria as slave. He got frustrated because he 
had many debts and now he was a slave. Merchant asked his wife if she needed a 
slave and assigned to Debasir, her duties. The wife of merchant was a kind and 
wise woman. She told Debasir to escape the slavery and go on to defeat his 
enemies (which were debts). He returned to Babylon and with the help of the 
advice of gold lender, he put his knowledge of camels to good use and repaid all 
his debts as well as stabled his life. As and when he made progress, he inscribed 
his rules on tablets.  
These were the principles written on those tablets :  
1. Debasir devised a plan where he would save one-tenth of his income, use 
two-tenth of his income to pay debts and seven-tenth income for his 
expenditure. 
2. He decided to make request to all his creditors that he will pay them on 
pro-rata basis. 
3. Most of them agreed on his condition with a few exceptions but he 
managed them as well. 
4. After few months, he had a substantial amount of money with him, he had 
gained respect in his society and family. 
5. After 2 years, with sheer discipline and advise from gold lender, he was 
able to pay off all his debts. 
 

Chapter 10 : The Luckiest man in Babylon 

 
Hadan Gula, grandson of Arad Gula, was on a caravan with Sharru Nada, on their 
way to Damascus, which was a city far away. Sharru Nada was partner of Hadan's 
grandfather in younger years. Hadan asked Sharru Nada about key of success of 
his grandfather. Sharru Nada started telling him his story by mentioning how he 
was once a slave and then became merchant. 
He said that he was a member of group of slaves. In his group there were two 
noteworthy people, first Megiddo and second was the pirate. Megiddo was of 
opinion that hard work is your best friend while the pirate thought otherwise. One 
day, all the slaves were put for auction and people were bought. Sharru Nada 
was bought by a merchant who owned a bakery. Sharru Nada remembered the 
lesson of Megiddo and continued to work hard. After working for some time, he 
had an idea that he will work hard and bake more biscuits than he usually does 
and sell those extra ones in market. His master happily agreed and said that out 
of the profits, he will take what the cost of making those extra biscuits was and 
then remaining amount they will share equally. Sharru Nada was more than 
happy with the deal. He soon started earning money. One day, a buyer came to 
him and was impressed with how he handled his selling. That buyer was Arad 
Gula, grandfather of Hadan Gula. Arad was so impressed with Nada that he 
asked him to be his partner. Arad paid the money to the master of Sharru and 
purchased him. After purchasing him, he freed Sharru from slavery and made 
him his partner. Arad then told Sharru about how even he was once a slave. But, 
he bought his freedom with his hardwork and willpower. He noticed those same 
traits in Sharru Nada. After that, they worked hard and went on to become great 
merchants. Sharru Nada met Megiddo and Pirate in other stages of his life and 
saw both of them in contrasting position. Megiddo was a successful merchant 
whereas Pirate was still a slave who carried bricks. This Story of Sharru Nada and 
Arad impressed Hadan Gula and he learnt a great lesson. Sharru Nada said work 
was his greatest pleasure. So, never shy away from working hard. 
 

Chapter 11 : A historical sketch of Babylon 

 
In this chapter, the author talks about the history of Babylon city.  
 
 
This summary is not at all a substitute for the joy that you will receive after 
reading the book. The way finance has been explained with the help of stories is 
incredible. So, I would recommend you to check out the book. 
 
Thanks for reading.