Book-obsessed businessman chartered PRIVATE JET to fly home a first edition he bought for a whopping $1.5million – but has now been banned by his wife from buying any more pricey tomes

An entrepreneur has revealed how he chartered a private jet to bring him a first edition book after spending $1.5 million on the rare work despite his wife’s disapproval.

Russell Brunson, 44, is a book-obsessed father of five who spent a month negotiating with the seller of a signed pre-first edition of Napoleon Hill’s book The Law of Success.

Although his wife, Collette Brunson, disapproved of him spending so much money, it didn’t stop the Idaho-based father from nurturing his love of rare books.

The serial entrepreneur describes the 1925 tome as “the holy grail” of entrepreneurial success, and when he saw it for sale on eBay, he knew he had to have it.

After a month of negotiations with both the seller and his wife, Russell secured the book in October 2020, along with a collection of other works by Napoleon Hill, which totaled $2.2 million.

Determined not to let the text rot under lock and key, Russell carefully flew it home on a private jet and now vows to use it as a tool to “wake up” and train aspiring entrepreneurs.

Given the expensive backstory, Russell, who can recite parts of the book by heart, believes it will grab people’s attention and “increase its perceived value.”

However, 49-year-old Collette was unimpressed by the rare find and branded her husband ‘crazy’ before warning him never to spend so much money on a book again.

The full-time mum ‘rolled her eyes’ after discovering Russell considered it his most prized possession.

Russell said: “It is by far one of the biggest purchases I have made in my life. It is the holy grail of entrepreneurial success and personal development. He was the first to ever write about these principles.

“Most of the things you hear from all the self-help gurus online today are just repeats of what originally came from this book.

‘It is the only known complete copy that is signed. When I saw it I thought, “Oh, that would be so cool to have.”

“I talked to the guy who sold it and said, ‘One day my goal is to buy that, so just get ready.’

“He said another buyer had looked at it. I thought, “Oh no, if I’m going to get this one day, it has to happen one day now.”

He realized he had to go against his wife’s wishes and drop the money.

Russell revealed that Collette was ‘stressed’ about the big purchase.

He said: ‘My wife Collette rolled her eyes when she realized I had spent so much on one book. She thinks I love most of the things I do, but she also trusts me and it wouldn’t hurt our family, our finances or anything like that, so she was fine with it.

‘She jokingly warned me ‘no more big book purchases’. She doesn’t mind the little ones, but the big ones cause her a bit of stress.’

The book will be the centerpiece of Russell’s $25 million event center and museum. He hopes the author’s lessons will be more appreciated because they come from a more expensive book.

Russell, who is also the co-founder of ClickFunnels, said: ‘If I were to say, “I bought The Law Of Success on eBay for $500” and now try to share that message with them, the chances are slim it’s great that they will do the same. listen.

“When I tell them, ‘I spent $1.5 million on this book,’ now they listen. Now it increases the perceived value of what I teach from the book.

‘The story behind it helps a lot, because now they are all paying attention.

“When they come to our office, they want to see it, they want to have their picture taken with it, they care about what’s in it now because of the perceived value.”

Housed in a specially made light and temperature controlled box, the book is currently being stored off-site before moving to its new home.

Russell said: ‘It was so cool to hold it in my hands for the first time, but I was so scared it would break.

‘I love the smell of old books, so I smelled it and opened it and it was amazing to see his signature in it.

‘I thought to myself, “A hundred years from now, I hope someone looks at my work the same way I look at this.” I was so excited, it was such a cool experience.”

The father noted that he hoped people would see the book in its final location in a year.

He said: ‘It is stored off-site in a safe. We are building a museum that will be the last place, hopefully within a year it will be completed and people will have a chance to see and experience it. I’m big on creating experiences for people.

‘Having a clear purpose, building a mastermind group, going above and beyond in everything we do – those are the qualities we try to instill in all our entrepreneurs and make them really believe in it.

“Those three alone, not even counting the rest, can change someone’s life and relationship.”