Jennifer Risher

Jennifer Risher was born in Seattle, Washington, grew up in Oregon, and graduated from Connecticut College. She joined Microsoft in 1991 where she worked as a recruiter and then as a product manager. She and her husband, David, have two daughters and live in San Francisco, where David is CEO of Worldreader, a nonprofit he cofounded with a mission to create a world where everyone is a reader. We Need to Talk is Jennifer’s first book.


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We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth

Jennifer Risher

Publication Date: September 15, 2020

$26.95 Tradepaper

ISBN: 978-1-93909-646-3

Description:

When Jennifer Risher joined Microsoft in 1991, she met her husband, and with him became an extra-lucky beneficiary of the dot-com boom. By their early thirties, they had tens of millions of dollars. Today, there are millions of people like her. Jennifer’s thought-provoking, personal story includes the voices of others in her demographic and explores the hidden impact of wealth on identity, relationships, and sense of place in the world. At a time when income inequality is a huge problem, our country’s economic system is broken, and money is still a taboo subject even among those closest to us, this engaging, introspective memoir is essential reading: a catalyst for conversation that demystifies wealth and inspires us to connect.

ADVANCE PRAISE

“An enlightening, deeply personal story written with introspection and grace, We Need to Talk explores how financial success impacts friendships, children, charity, and family. You need to read this book.” —Scott Cook, Co-founder of Intuit and member of the Giving Pledge

News

Jennifer Rishner interviewed for Robb Report!

Philanthropy is changing. Spurred by the Covid-19 crisis, America’s racial reckoning, increasingly frequent climate disasters and a profound sense that traditional ways of giving are insufficient to meet burgeoning needs, donors are re-examining not only what but how they give.

Jennifer Rishner interviewed for Philanthropy!

The San Francisco philanthropists Jennifer and David Risher believe so strongly that rich donors should give more of the money in their donor-advised funds to charities, and more quickly, that they’re using their own wealth to persuade them to do it.

Jennifer Risher guests on Working Wife, Happy Life podcast!

Ep 33 – Talking about Money & Wealth w/ Jennifer Risher What’s your relationship with money? How about your partner’s relationship with money? Do you talk about it? Does it make you uncomfortable? What do you wish you could say but don’t to those around you when it comes to money?  Unpack all of these […]

Jennifer Risher, author of WE NEED TO TALK, featured in UBS on Air: Conversations

Jennifer Risher, a beneficiary of the dot-com boom and author of We Need to Talk: A Memoir about Wealth, joins Judy Spalthoff, Head of Family Advisory and Philanthropy Services, to break down the stigma around talking about wealth. While wealth can make it easier to support a family, open communication is what makes a family […]

WE NEED TO TALK author, Jen Risher, to Zoom with Pequot Library

March 10 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Jennifer Risher is the author of We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth which tells her story and explores the impact of wealth on identity, relationships, and sense of place in the world. Jennifer was born in Seattle, Washington, grew up in Oregon, and graduated from Connecticut College. She joined Microsoft […]

Jennifer Risher featured on THE STACKING BENJAMINS Podcast!

What’s the next step after you finally “make it”? While it’s easy to scoff at the problems of people who are financially set, it’s not uncommon to lose a sense of purpose once you jump out of the rat race. Bigger questions start to come up: what’s your real purpose in life? What type of […]

Jennifer Risher featured in Forbes Magazine!

Before Covid hit, my family often traveled to Germany. There, we found “Asian” restaurants in many small German towns. I had to chuckle at the generalization. Did these restaurants serve East Asian food? South Asian? Chinese? Indian? Thai? I considered, too, how even the flavors, textures and colors of what gets called “Chinese food” vary […]

Q&A with Jennifer Risher, writing on tough topics!

Marion Roach Smith sits down with Jennifer Risher, author of WE NEED TO TALK: A MEMOIR ABOUT WEALTH for a questions and answers podcast/interview. This topic includes writing on the tough topics. Read the full transcript here, or listen to the interview here!

WE NEED TO TALK: A MEMOIR ABOUT WEALTH & Jennifer Risher featured in Forbes!

Risher’s memoir shares conversations with friends and family and her own inner dialogue, following her evolution after realizing that she and her husband were not just successful professionals but hugely wealthy beyond anything they ever imagined. Everything about their lives was transformed. They grapple with their awareness that “it doesn’t feel right that some people […]

Jennifer Risher featured at the Bay Area Book Festival!

Following her live Women Lit conversation with Robin Richards Donohoe, Jennifer talked with us about the dream of wealth versus the reality, how to do philanthropy right in the midst of a broken system, and how important it is for women, in particular, to talk about money with frankness and fearlessness. Women Lit: You’ve mentioned that […]

Jen Risher, author of WE NEED TO TALK: A MEMOIR ABOUT WEALTH interviewed by Bookclubz

At a time when income inequality is a huge problem, our country’s economic system is broken, and money is still a taboo subject even among those closest to us, this engaging, introspective memoir is essential reading: a catalyst for conversation that demystifies wealth and inspires us to connect. We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth […]

The New York Times features Jennifer Risher

Jennifer Risher took a job in campus recruiting at Microsoft in 1991. She was 25 and given stock options worth several hundred thousand dollars. While working there, she met her husband, David, who had more stock options than she did. He later left to work for Amazon when it was still just selling books and […]

Jennifer Risher’s Letter to the Editor of the New York Times

When Publishing Focuses on the Bottom Line Re “Best Sellers Sell the Best” (Sunday Business, Sept. 20): With publishers preordaining certain titles as likely successes, the homogenization of literary culture is particularly problematic. Publishing is one of the least diverse industries in the country. We all saw the pent-up frustration when “American Dirt” was released. […]

Talking About Wealth, Jennifer Risher on The Crazy Money Podcast

As early Microsoft employees, Jennifer and her future-husband, David Risher, made millions of dollars from their stock options in the quickly growing company. When David joined an online book-seller called Amazon, those “millions” became “tens of millions,” and Jen found herself nervously navigating the world of affluence.   In her new book, We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth, she explores […]

Books Coming Out in September

We Need to Talk by Jennifer Risher When Jennifer Risher joined Microsoft in 1991, she met her husband, and with him became an extra-lucky beneficiary of the dot-com boom. By their early thirties, they had tens of millions of dollars. Today, there are millions of people like her. Jennifer’s thought-provoking, personal story includes the voices […]

#HalfMyDAF Announces First Matching Grants to 147 Nonprofits

#HalfMyDAF today announced the results of its first grant-matching drawing to support nonprofits and their work. The organization will give $600,000 in matching grants to 147 nonprofits in 30 states and the District of Columbia, supporting work that feeds the hungry, educates the vulnerable, advocates for social and racial justice, and more. In total, nearly […]

Psychology Today: Wrestling with Wealth

When I got a job offer to be a campus recruiter at Microsoft in 1991, I had no idea how much good fortune was heading my way. I was 25 years old. The company was booming, and its employees were young, ambitious, and out to change the world. My starting salary was $26,000, which was […]

Reviews

Midwest Book Review gives Jennifer Risher’s WE NEED TO TALK a look.

When Jennifer Risher joined Microsoft in 1991, she met her husband, and with him became an extra-lucky beneficiary of the dot-com boom. By their early thirties, they had tens of millions of dollars. Today, there are millions of people like her. “We Need To Talk: A Memoir About Wealth” is Jennifer’s thought-provoking, personal story that […]

Four Questions to Help Demystify Your Relationship With Money

Jennifer Risher took a job in campus recruiting at Microsoft in 1991. She was 25 and given stock options worth several hundred thousand dollars. While working there, she met her husband, David, who had more stock options than she did. He later left to work for Amazon when it was still just selling books and […]