When you earn millions of dollars, you are supposed to be out of all your money troubles. It’s true for some celebrities, but some just don’t seem to be able to hang on to their money. Some lose their money almost overnight, and some lose it over time, sometimes due to somebody else’s fault. Clearly, being a celeb and having the capacity to earn millions is not enough to remain a millionaire. Take a look at these celebs who went from riches to rags:
10 Celebs who went from riches to rags
1. Nicholas Cage
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He looks very serious and capable, but turns out he wasn’t that great at holding on his money. He had it all, and almost lost it all – He was a big star of the 90s and had hit after hit. He unfortunately spent like a king, earning 40 million dollars a year. He bought jets, castles in England and Bavaria, beach house in Malibu, Private Island, luxury yacht and luxury cars et al. He ultimately ended up 13 million dollars in debt, and almost ended up broke. He’s made a comeback, and has partially managed to dig himself out of the hole he dug.
2. Lindsay Lohan
There was a time when we saw this young star everywhere. She became a rich celeb, joined the jetsetters and partied hard. Her partying ways however lost her many roles and thus a lot of money. She still spent hard, didn’t pay taxes nor her legal bills. Charlie Sheen empathized with her riches to rags story and bailed her out by paying some bills.
3. Burt Reynolds
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Burt Reynolds sadly proved that being a movie star does not mean that you have good business sense either. He invested in businesses which failed and declared bankruptcy in 1996. He went from rich to poor and back again, and seems to be on even ground now.
4. MC Hammer
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He gave meaning to the world spendthrift – he went through his money because of his extravagant and ridiculous spending. When he was making 30 million dollars a year, he had 200 people working for him, bred champion horses, and had an unnecessary entourage of 40 people! And he was building a multi-million dollar dream home for himself. After 6 years of this OTT spending, he was 13 million dollars in debt, and had to file for bankruptcy. One of the saddest riches to rags stories of Hollywood, and a perfect example of celebs who lost all their money.
5. Johnny Depp
Surprised to see his name on this list? Well, the swash-buckling pirate was not so great at managing his money. So he hired some money managers who did a worse job at saving his money. Now, he has filed a 25 million dollar lawsuit against him, while they are alleging he lost his money because of his 75 million dollar spending spree. So another star bites the dust and he became a statistic of the rich to poor story.
6. Kim Basinger
The actress supposedly paid 20 million dollars for a town! She wanted to transform the property into a tourist attraction, but instead she had to declare bankruptcy and finally sold the town at a great loss. Why? Because she had to settle with Main Line Pictures for opting out of their movie, ‘Boxing Helena’. By 1995, she had bounced back and was spending 31,000 dollars a month but even then failed to pay $8,100 to her yard maintenance company.
7. Shane Filan
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Shane Filan’s riches to rags is actually a story of misfortune. The Irish singer/songwriter was part of the band Westlife, but left it to go solo. He invested in property which was not lucrative and ended up having 30 million dollars debt. He ended up broke and is still trying to pay off his whooping debt.
8. Billy Joel
He is one of the biggest singing sensations, but after he divorced Christie Brinkley, things did not go so well with him. His downward spiral was caused by mismanagement of his money by his brother in law. It didn’t help that he had a slew of divorces, leading to multiple alimonies, and car accidents. No wonder he suffered from depression.
9. 50 Cent
The rapper makes his money from many different businesses, and had to undergo financial trouble when his stocks lost value in the recession. In 2015, the rapper had to pay $32.5 million dollars to clear debt. But he recovered his wealth when he was paid 700 bitcoins (millions in regular money) recently.
10. Pamela Anderson
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In her heyday, she earned millions. She continued to spend the way she used to even after she stopped working. She ultimately sold her house to pay her debts which made her another celebrity who lost their money.
Most of these celebs lost their money because of their high spending habits, bad investments and bad luck, and for not paying their taxes. If you ever have their kind of money, you know now to avoid the same pitfalls as these celebs, and be rich always!