Rich celebrities gone broke, rich and famous celebrities losing all their money, celebrities who lost everything, don’t we hear this very often? Why do most celebrities fail when it comes to handling their finances? While some people wish for the luxury that celebrities have on the other hand only few about the financial crisis that celebrities can also go through.
Here is a list of celebrities that went completely broke due to their spending spree.
1. 50 Cent
Back in May 2015, Forbes named 50 Cent one of the five wealthiest hip-hop artists, pegging his net worth at $155 million. But bad investments and a big lawsuit — he was ordered to pay $5 million to a woman who says he posted a sex tape of her online — put the rapper’s fortune in jeopardy.
2. Donald Trump
While Trump has never personally declared bankruptcy, his companies have gone bankrupt six times, according to Politifact. The first was in 1991, when his Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City went bust. Several more of his casinos and hotels went bankrupt in 1992. Two more casino and resort bankruptcies happened in 2004 and 2009.
3. Kim Basinger
Among her assets that were eventually liquidated was the town of Braselton, Georgia, which she and other investors had bought with the idea of turning it into a tourist attraction. Her share of the investment was eventually sold. The once-tiny town seems to be doing OK without her, though. It’s population has ballooned from just a few hundred in 1990 to close to 10,000 in 2014.
4. Marvin Gaye
The life of Motown legend Marvin Gaye was marked by both success (numerous hit records and Grammy nominations) and tragedy (his own father fatally shot him in 1984). His troubles also included the breakdown of his first marriage to Anna Gordy, the sister of Motown Records founder Barry Gordy.
Unpaid alimony to the tune of $600,000 led the crooner to declare bankruptcy in 1976. As part of a deal to settle his debt to his ex, he agreed to pay her all the royalties for his next record. The resulting album, Here, My Dear, featured tracks, including “You Can Leave, But It’s Going to Cost You,” as Gaye made his feelings about the breakup and his former wife abundantly clear.
5. Mark Twain
By the 1880s, Mark Twain had made his indelible mark on American literature with the publication of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and was basking in the success of Ulysses S. Grant’s memoirs, which his publishing company had released to great acclaim. But an ill-advised investment in a new typesetting machine and cash flow problems at his publishing house meant he enjoyed only a brief window of financial freedom. A financial panic in 1893 was the final blow, and Twain had to declare personal bankruptcy at age 60.
6. Larry King
Before he became one of cable TV’s most recognizable talking heads, Larry King’s journalism career was almost completely derailed by criminal charges and subsequent financial troubles. In 1978, the newsman filed for bankruptcy after he found himself more than $300,000 in debt.
It was the culmination of a rough few years for King, which began when a former business partner accused him of grand larceny. The charges were dropped, but his professional reputation was in tatters. He didn’t work in journalism at all for a time, but eventually he found his way back to broadcasting. In 1978, the Larry King Show was first broadcast on Miami radio station WIOD, and the rest is history.
7. Joe Francis
Joe Francis made a fortune out of persuading drunk college girls to take their tops off and then selling the resulting videos on late-night TV. The sleazy money-making scheme worked for a while, but the Girls Gone Wild empire eventually crumbled because of its founder’s financial and legal difficulties (which included a stint in prison for filming underage girls and millions of dollars owed to the IRS).
8. Gary Coleman
The former Diff’rent Strokes star filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 1999, claiming debts of $72,000. It was a far cry from his heyday as one of the most famous faces on television, when he was making $64,000 a week for his role as the wisecracking Arnold Drummond. Coleman blamed his parents for looting his trust fund and making off with much of his fortune. Health problems further exacerbated his financial woes. Coleman died in 2010.
One-time teen heartthrob Aaron Carter apparently missed the message that you have to pay your taxes. When the singer filed for bankruptcy in 2013 he was $2 million in debt, mostly due to money owed to the IRS. His publicist blamed those who were in charge of managing Carter’s finances when he was still a minor for his predicament.
9. Aaron Carter
Whatever the source of his financial woes, there was little doubt that Carter was broke by the time he resorted to bankruptcy. His paltry assets included a flat-screen TV, a Louis Vuitton backpack, and $917 in his checking account.
10. Teresa Giudice
Teresa Giudice’s financial troubles weren’t just made for TV. The Real Housewives of New Jersey star and her husband first filed for bankruptcy in 2009, but that move set off a series of series of legal problems from which she’s still untangling herself.
After the initial filing, creditors alleged the couple were hiding some of their assets. That led to charges of bankruptcy fraud, along with charges of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. Teresa ended up serving time in federal prison; her husband is still incarcerated.