Product Description: From magician to manufacturing magnate, financial columnist to real estate investor, poet to college drop-out, here are the profiles of 17 ordinary people who started with nothing. Husband-wife financial journalist team Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine collaborate on an engaging and insightful journey into the lives, histories and backgrounds of people who have themselves traveled from rags to riches and are willing to share their insights. The authors add their professional perspectives employed by these people to amass and retain their fortunes, and tips to avoid the downside of wealth.

Each story illustrates a different wealth accumulation and retention strategy. Readers will meet the likes of:

* Bootstrap Entrepreneur Lisa Renshaw, who lived in a 10 x 12 foot room for three and a half years while she built her parking garage into a respectable business, now employing 300 people, with 68 garages and parking lots, and generating $28 million in annual revenues.
* Pro golfer Juan "Chi Chi" Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican sugar laborer turned golf caddy who developed fame and wealth by living his passion.
* Poet and university instructor Maya Angelou, who was asked to deliver an original poem at Bill Clinton's inauguration. Since then she has written 11 best sellers.
* Record mogul David Geffen, a ne'er do well high school drop-out who co-founded DreamWorks film studio and is now worth 2.3 billion.