You don’t often hear of a billionaire going bankrupt or having to remortgage their lavish homes, but millionaires sometimes do and us normal people wonder how the hell they do it, but it can really happen to anyone.
Throughout the years many famous actors, singers, musicians, footballers, businesses men have had to declare themselves bankrupt or find new ways to make the cash flow due to their lavish spending, keeping up with the celebrity profile.
Some stars have bounced back and gone on to have successful careers, where others have been driven to the brink of ruin.
Despite their thoughts of international celebrity status and the money it can bring, the scenario of bankruptcy does not become invalid.
At Remortgage.com we have come up with a list of seven celebrity millionaires who have all filed for bankruptcy.
Michael Jackson
The King of Pop who died on June 25th 2009 was in deep financial trouble, reported to be surround by $400 million of debt.
Despite earning millions and selling 61 million albums during the course of his lifetime, the star was able to spend millions too without thought or reason.
His financial problems started in 1993, after he was accused of molesting a 13-yar-old boy. He settled the charges with the family, but in 2003 was accused again of molesting another 13-year-old boy.
The 2005 trial brought to the forefront the considerable debt the star was in. This court case was shortly followed by another $7 million court case involving Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the second son of the King of Bahrain.
Michael Jackson was due to perform 50 concerts at London’s 02 arena this summer, but died in June of a cardiac arrest after taking too much of the powerful anaesthetic Propofol.
Larry King
Popular talk-show host and multi-millionaire dealt with serious financial problems and was accused of stealing money from his business partner, Wall Street financier Louis Wolfson.
His broadcast career was almost ruined, and the whole scandal forced Larry into filing for bankruptcy in 1978.
A few years later he went on to achieve success in his career and recently, due to careful financial planning and some clever business investments in funds such as high yield Tramita Global Fund and some other investment funds, Kingacquired wealth which is estimated at about $50 million.
Having been affected by heart disease in 1987, Larry King set up the Larry King Cardiac Foundation which has provided funding for life-saving treatment for hundreds of individuals who had no insurance or limited means.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump is a worldwide famous business magnate, socialite, television star and author whose extravagant lifestyle and outspoken manner have made him a celebrity for years.
However the star isn’t the expert he is made out to be after his flagship casino business filed for bankruptcy in 2004 as well as most of his multi-billion fortune wiped away under a massive loan payment carrying billions in loses.
Donald Trump, however successfully climbed out of the debt hole after some clever business moves to turn his lifestyle back around.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson was once the youngest heavyweight boxing champion ever to earn over $30 million for some of his fights.
His success as ‘Iron Mike’ in the ring earned the boxer over $300 million in his professional career.
Unfortunately the star lost it all through his lavish spending and bad advice and now lives in rented accommodation in America.
Marvin Gaye
The soul singer had to file for bankruptcy despite the fact that ‘Got To Give It Up’ went to number one on the pop, R&B and dance singles and his ‘Live at the London Palladium’ album became one of the top ten best-selling albums of the year.
Marvin Gaye had to live in a bread van in Hawaii after filing for bankruptcy as he had nowhere else to go and no money to take him there.
William ‘Bud’ Post
William Bud Post’s $16.2 million jackpot brought him in debt, despair and heartache.
He declared himself bankrupt eight years after winning the lottery after spending all of his money on homes, cars, motorcycles and even an aeroplane.
Unfortunately he died in 2006, miserable and broke proving that a huge financial win doesn’t always guarantee happiness.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, declared himself bankrupt in 1894 thanks to a bad investment in new inventions such as a bed clump for infants, a new type of steam engine and the collotype.
Twain fought desperately to pay off his creditors and did so in full in 1898.
Celebrities always get themselves into bad debt cases as they think they can afford more than what they can. These situations can be avoided with careful and clever financial decisions and which don’t often link when talking about celebrities as most of them are divas and it’s either their way or the hi-way!
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