We’ve all heard of the stories of regular people making fortunes for themselves. And while that’s fun to look at, there’s also the exact opposite: celebrities that through some reason lost their fortune and went back to regular mortal status. There can be a myriad of reasons for this, and most of them have a juicy story tied to it. Let’s be honest, you don’t lose millions of dollars because your car broke down at an inconvenient time.
Let’s take a look at who lost their money and why.
Burt Reynolds
One of the most recognizable stars of this generation, Burt found himself in financial dire straits after divorcing from his wife, Loni Anderson. Not even 10 years ago, Burt’s Florida home was almost foreclosed because he hadn’t paid the mortgage in over a year.
Kim Basinger
The actress backed out of the film Boxing Helena, so Main Line Pictures sued her for $8,1 million. This pretty much forced Kim to file for bankruptcy. She had also invested $20 million in the town of Braselton, but she had to sell out of that one.
Marvin Gaye
You’d think one of the biggest soul singers in the world would never be short on cash, but Marvin had to file for bankruptcy after he divorced Anna Gordy. In fact, instead of paying her regular alimony, it was agreed that Gaye would make an album and give all the royalties for that to Gordy.
Toni Braxton
While Toni Braxton had over 40 million records sold, she claims that bad business deals cost her most of her fortune. Apparently she’d received only about $2000 in royalties, leading to her first bankruptcy in 1998. In 2010, after a series of Las Vegas shows got cancelled, she had to file for bankruptcy again.
M.C. Hammer
Despite being worth upwards of $30 million in the early nineties, M.C. Hammer was nearly bankrupt six years later. The main reasons for this was just plain spending too much money, like shelling out $20 million for a custom mansion.
Willie Nelson
While you’d expect a country singer to be a hard working, tax-paying American, Willie didn’t care much for the tax part. He was charged for $16,7 million in back taxes and had to make an album where the profits went straight to the IRS.
Mike Tyson
It’s no secret that Mike loves expensive jewelry and exotic animals, and this all led him to spend nearly all of his $400 million in prize money from his boxing career. He went bankrupt in 2003, but has since found a new source of income for himself in acting.
Nicolas Cage
Back in 2009, the IRS went after Nicolas Cage for not having paid $6,2 million in taxes. Cage sued his business manager for this error, as he was the one managing the money, but that didn’t prevent the foreclosure of Cage’s homes in New Orleans, Bel Air and Nevada.
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