#it doesn't get revealed until the end of ep2 in implication and then explicitly in ep4

[batbeato]

How rich do you think the Ushiromiya Family is (at least, as a front)? From what I can tell by the power of the internet, one of the wealthiest men to exist in the 1980's (to '87) was Yoshiaki Tsutsumi with a net worth around $20 billion.

Considering Kinzo was renowned for both wealth and business acumen, it could be somewhere around there - not including the ten tons of gold, since that's a mere rumor for the public. I think at some point Eva mentioned several ten billion yen (so 20 billion or upwards) in assets, even if said money wasn't actually liquidized and just on hand to draw out of a bank (a.k.a Krauss probably hadn't gotten the chance to spend it all away yet). Not sure exactly how that converts to dollars, but Kinzo would be at the very least a millionaire?

I read somewhere that he made a lot of his money via investments in post-war industry and ferrying supplies to...someone(pretty sure it was the US, since Japan was still under occupation?) in preparation for the Korean War.

On wikipedia, this time period (1940's to the early 1990's when Japan's economic bubble popped) is known as the Japanese economic miracle. Wikipedia isn't the best source to look at, but it's a start on researching it and pondering the growth of Kinzo's wealth.

Likewise, how wealthy do you think the branches of the family (Eva, Rudolf, and Rosa) are, even in the face of their financial struggles?

Since, I don't think we ever get numbers on the money Rudolf needs for the lawsuit, or the amount Rosa needs to pay the loan and possible interest - I'm not sure about the other aspects of her business, since she did have the money to have vacations with various boyfriends, so it may have been doing well? Just not well enought to handle the loan?

And Eva + Hideyoshi really only need to worry about buying stocks back, not their finances. Similarly to Krauss and the embezzlement of Kinzo's money but not all the assets, they don't have the liquid cash / assets on hand to pay off the various issues they're dealing with.

Hm... To be honest, I've just never really thought about it much. Trying to fathom the level of wealth they have is tough. I feel like Kinzo's kids come off as millionaires, where they're very wealthy but not about to commission private jets for what would be 3 hour drives - that sort of super excessive expenditure you get when you're so wealthy money no longer has meaning. They're wealthy, but not so much that they can do whatever they want (as evidenced by all of them Needing Money Right Now).

Rosa in particular feels like someone who... doesn't have that much money on hand. Her business also isn't doing that well. She does spend a lot on Maria sometimes, and also spends for her getaways with boyfriends, but she's in debt. Also, she... doesn't hire someone to just, look after Maria? It could be a pride or secrecy thing more than a financial thing, though... But considering that Jessica probably had private tutoring, George had tons of tutoring and special programs, and Ange is also mentioned to be in cram school (she knows division. she is SIX.) and Maria seems to have none of that... It could reflect on Rosa trying to raise Maria as a "normal child" with less of the pressures that her siblings put on their children, but could, again, be financial hardship preventing her from doing that.

I guess when you add a bunch of millionaires together, plus the incredible amount of money and assets that Kinzo has put together over the years, you end up with billions. At the very least, post-1986 Eva comes off like a billionaire, especially with how she recklessly does the same stuff Kinzo did to put together vast amounts of money and wastes it on pretty much whatever she thinks will make her feel better (it's mentioned that she got into sketchy new religions/cults/whatever). I wouldn't know nearly enough about the Japanese economy to be able to put together any sort of ballpark estimate, though.