10 Millionaires and Billionaires Who Lost It All

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With enough money, almost anything is possible. You can buy a yacht and party like there’s no tomorrow. You can have an unlimited supply of steaks and lobsters and drink as much alcohol as you want. As long as you have money, you can do almost anything, but there is always a limit. As the famous saying goes, “the brightest flame burns the quickest.” There are lots of entrepreneurs and individuals who instantly soar high to financial success, only to lose everything in a blink of an eye. Here are ten people who spent their fortune like there’s no tomorrow and ended up crashing and burning towards bankruptcy: 10. Kim Dotcom
kim-dotcom
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robertamsterdam.com
Kim Dotcom is most famous as the founder of Megaupload, an online file sharing service provider. The German internet millionaire failed because of his bad business decisions and his involvement in lots of alleged criminal activities. His website was accused of copyright infringement, while he was charged with computer fraud and insider trading. At the height of his success, his net worth was $200 million. As of now, all his money is in lockdown, including all his worldly possessions. was one of the richest and lost it all 9. Scott Eyre
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celebritybankrupt.com
People who are famous are susceptible to any sorts of scams. Most of the time, they are being taken advantage of. They lose millions on bad investments introduced to them by colleagues and family members. Scott Eyre, who once earned $17 million as a professional athlete, was said to have only $13 in his savings account. He was reportedly scammed by Allen Stanford in his fraudulent billion-dollar scheme, richest lost it all. 8. Johnny Unitas
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nbcsandiego.com
Johnny Unitas is a legendary quarterback player, who once earned hundreds of thousands of dollars for his unparalleled prowess on the field. His salary grew from $7,000 to $250,000 after signing a contract with the Colts. Not to mention, he also received a signing bonus worth $175,000. After a series of misfortune and bad luck, all the businesses he invested in, failed and he was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1991, richest lost it all.   7. Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson
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This former Icelandic billionaire, along with his son, witnessed how his net worth fell from $1.1 billion to zero after a credit crisis struck their country. Both were major shareholders in a bank called Landsbankin. The Gondmundsson’s assets went down after the incident. He was involved in an issue, where he was suspected to be involved in fraud and misuse scheme.   6. Willie Nelson
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Willie Nelson is a country music legend, who owed $16.7 million to the IRS. In 1990, he declared bankruptcy and the government went after all his bank accounts and real estate holdings in six different states to pay for his debts. He was forced to produce two albums, in a deal that all the profits will go directly to the IRS. The album was called The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories. In 1993, all his debts were paid off and later, he sued Price Waterhouse for mishandling all his wealth.   5. George Foreman
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wikimedia.org
In the late ‘70s, the former heavyweight champion, George Foreman, struggled with financial woes. Naturally, his profits weren’t just enough and he became overwhelmed with unpaid loads and credit card debts. When Foreman was on the verge of bankruptcy, he re-entered the boxing ring and won back his heavyweight title from Michael Moorer. Because of this second chance, he paid off all his debts. This also helped him start a new career as an entrepreneur.   4. Sean Quinn
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insuranceage.co.uk
Sean Quinn was formerly the richest man in Ireland, having a net worth of $6.5 billion. Because of a really wrong move, he had nearly $4 billion in debt. He invested one-fourth of his family’s wealth in an Irish bank and quickly lost it all. This wouldn’t have happened if he did not use the money of his family’s insurance company to make the investment. As a result, his entire empire collapsed with billions of debt richest lost it all.   3. Allen Stanford
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nbcdfw.com
The former billionaire, Allen Stanford, was charged with running the multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. He was part of the Stanford Financial Group, where he acted as the Chairman. He was accused as the mastermind of a financial scheme, where investors are robbed out their hard-earned cash and misuse all funds to maintain his luxurious lifestyle. Just like the others, he is now paying for all his acts. He is currently behind bars, where he is sentenced to 110 years for defrauding investors more than $7 billion. 2. Jordan Belfort
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dailyentertainmentnews.com
The man that was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the hit movie Wolf of Wall Street, earned a huge bulk of money in a year. Jordan Belfort’s annual income reached $250 million, when he was in his early 20’s. His money was retrieved from him after the FBI found out he was involved in fraud and money laundering. Unlike Allen Stanford, he was only given a 2-year prison term. He still has millions of dollars in debt, but is slowly repaying all of these by having inspirational speaking tours.   1. MC Hammer
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huffpost.com
MC Hammer made about $30 million at the peak of his career. However, he didn’t also waste time in spending every single dime. He bought his family and friends expensive toys and invested in bad real estate. Before 2000, he had filed for bankruptcy because of his huge debt. All of these happened because he doesn’t know how to handle his finances. There was nobody around him to help him out either. Now, he works as a pastor in California because he was one the richest and lost it all.   Everyone must learn to live within their means, including the richest of all. The mentioned individuals seemingly had everything – money, luxurious lifestyles and almost anything that money can buy – and suddenly lost it all. It goes to show that rich people are also human and thus, they are also prone to making bad decisions, just like the rest of us.