6 Celebrities Who Filed Bankruptcy
Even the rich and the famous aren’t spare from financial troubles. Throughout history, some of the most beloved people have experienced massive losses that eventually forced them to do a bankruptcy filing. Here’s a list of popular celebrities that went from being millionaires to losing it all.
50 Cent
This is probably the one story that most people are familiar with.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the rapper and actor had to do a Chapter 11 filing in July 2015. At the time, he had accumulated debt exceeding 10 million dollars (and probably up to 50 million).
Some suggest that the bankruptcy filing could have been related to a previous legal proceeding involving the rapper. Just one week prior to the submission of the bankruptcy documents, 50 Cent was ordered by court to pay five million dollars to Lastonia Leviston for the illegal release of a sex tape.
Donald Trump
Yes, the current president also had to go through a bankruptcy filing not once, not twice but six times. While Trump never had to complete a personal bankruptcy, he did go through insolvency proceedings related to his businesses.
The first bankruptcy filing occurred in 1991 after financial problems in Trump’s Atlantic City casino. Several more casinos and hotels went bankrupt through the years. The latest filing occurred in 2009.
Following the final filing, Trump withdrew from his chairman position at Trump Entertainment Resorts. His business share was also reduced to 10 percent.
Mike Tyson
When he did a bankruptcy filing in 2003, Mike Tyson was 23 million dollars in debt.
Over the course of his boxing career, Tyson is alleged to have won more than 400 million dollars. A nine-million-dollar divorce settlement, IRS debt totaling 13.4 million dollars and four million dollars of debt owed to the British tax authorities all contributed to Tyson’s financial crash.
Reports suggest that Tyson needed nearly a decade to regain his financial stability. The good news is that now, he has acquired control of his life once again.
Kim Basinger
One of Hollywood’s most charming ladies has had her fair share of financial troubles.
Kim Basinger went bankrupt in 1993. At the time, she reneged on an agreement to appear in a movie, after which she was ordered to pay 1.8 million dollars to the production company. Eventually, Basinger and the company settled out of court and the settlement amount was 3.8 million dollars.
In order to deal with her debt, Basinger had to liquidate various types of property and assets, including a town in Georgia that she’d bought for the purpose of creating a solid tourist attraction.
Tony Braxton
Tony Braxton’s angelic voice did not protect her from financial trouble. In fact, the singer said in several interviews that she received very little in royalties for her first recording contract.
Compulsive shopping also contributed to amassing debt.
Braxton did a bankruptcy filing in 1998. Braxton was on the road to financial recovery when she experienced health problems that forced her to cancel certain business plans. She did a second bankruptcy filing in 2013.
Walt Disney
Before becoming one of the most iconic personalities in film history, Walt Disney did struggle financially,
In 1921, Disney had to go through a bankruptcy filing due to the failure of his Laugh-O-Gram studio. The studio had signed a distribution contract but the so-called partner did not fulfill their part of the bargain. Disney was left in massive debt but his recovery started only seven years later.
This was the time when Walt Disney came up with Mickey Mouse and his world began turning around.
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