The Billionaire’s Gift by Edward Iwata

Last updated on: February 15, 2014 at 8:14 pm by Jim Erwin

The Billionaire’s Gift by Edward Iwata 2014-02-15T20:14:25-05:00 Jim Erwin

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This book, written like a parable, conveys similar themes as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The Billionaire (who is never named) is Scrooge. The Secretary (who is also never named) represents Bob Cratchit (65). She illustrates this by her quoting Matthew 6:21 and claiming that the real treasure for her family is family, not money. (76) During the chapter, the Secretary’s father dies. (Corinthians 9:6 is quoted at the funeral during his eulogy.) Secretary has a dream of her father – parallels the dream in A Christmas Carol. (87) The Billionaire has daddy issues – he misses his father (105). The funeral of the secretary’s father brings out this remorse.

Peppered with Scripture verses throughout…

Near the end, the Billionaire has a heart attack and has a dream in which the righteous fight against the greedy. The battle goes long and then the righteous retreat. The righteous cry out in the dream to the Billionaire “Redeem thyself.” The dream ends with him seeing a photo of his parents with this inscription:

Dear Son, For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36. We Shall Always Love You, Your Father and Mother. (146)

In the following chapter, he begins to pass out money and shout “Count thy blessings, people!” (153). He re-enacts Scrooge’s conversion. At one point he gives $1000 dollars to food truck vendors and tells them to give out free meals quoting Matthew 5:3 “blessed are the poor in spirit.” He dies falling off the bridge, as his heart fails him (174). In so doing, he goes from being a hateful to a grateful man. In the final chapter, he donates all of his money to many worthy causes. He gives the Secretary – the only one who really knew him and cared about him – the opportunity to be CEO of the company.

This riches to righteousness story reflects important Biblical concepts such as caring for the poor, leaving a legacy that is more important than money, and being a blessing to other people. I found it a delightful read.

This review was made for Speakeasy. The Twitter tag for this book is #SpeakeasyBillionairesGift

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.

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