As posted in Entertainment by Nat Berman, here it the list:
1. MC Hammer
The flamboyant musician earned $33 million in the early 1990s, but quickly blew all his cash, aided in part by his purchase of two private helicopters. It’s not easy when you’re in your 20s, have an amazingly successful album and have absolutely no idea what to do with all of your money. In this particular instance, Hammer had the posses, the homes, cars, and all the other glitz many celebrities have. The issue is that he spent way more than he should have and got in hot water for it.
2. Michael Jackson
Though he never filed bankruptcy, The King of Pop had a well-documented struggle with debt. Sources say Jackson purchased ten robot dogs with artificial intelligence on a whim. And we’re not even getting into all the plastic surgery. Neverland Ranch alone cost millions upon millions of dollars. Considering how much he was worth it’s hard to believe that by the time he died, people say he had a very hard time affording even the smallest of necessary expenses.
3. Joan Rivers
After Joan Rivers’ husband killed himself she was forced into bankruptcy. But Rivers was a fighter and made an eventual comeback as a raunchy, in-your-face red carpet critic. Her show Fashion Police became one of the most popular shows on E! Network, and gave her new life as a comedian. She never stopped being Joan Rivers, even when Hollywood tried to tell her Joan Rivers would never sell again. She guts and, in the end, she won.
4. Mark Twain
The creator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn saw his finances float up the river when he invested in a series of misguided get-rich-quick schemes. It’s hard to believe someone with Twain’s talent would have done something like that. Then again, when people think they can make money fast, they flock to the opportunities. Short cuts are in our nature. Maybe Twain just focused on writing and didn’t use his intelligence when thinking about investing.
5. Mike Tyson
Tyson had to file for bankruptcy despite earning more than $300 million as a professional boxer. Yup, $300 Million. True story. I once met Mike Tyson at Gucci in the 80s and he was shelling out 100 dollar bills like they were 1 dollar bills. He’s most certainly not doing that anymore. Tyson says Don King pretty much sucked most of the money away but we’re pretty sure he could have been a bit wiser with his decisions. At least right now he seems a bit more centered.
6. Willie Nelson
The famous singer-songwriter filed bankruptcy after receiving a bill from the Internal Revenue Service topping $16 million for unpaid taxes. We wish we could say this was surprising but come on. People who know Willie Nelson know that the man isn’t always 100% there so it’s no surprise that at some point in his life his financial affairs weren’t in order. Then again, will this guy ever stop touring? Probably not. That’s why we love the guy!
7. Walt Disney
Before he created the eponymous entertainment company, Disney had a few failed business ventures, forcing him to file bankruptcy in 1923. But Disney, like many other success stories, persevered and created this little mouse by the name of Mickey who would be responsible for starting the creation of a multi-billion dollar empire. Disney is currently a public company and the revenues they bring in each year are staggering. Glad Walt never gave up.
8. Nicolas Cage
The notoriously crazy actor was charged with unpaid taxes totaling more than $6 million by the IRS. And that was just the taxes for the 2007 fiscal year. It’s not too surprising that Cage had money problems. Amongst his purchases are things like islands and really rare dinosaur eggs that costs millions of dollars and don’t really do too well for him. Cage has got some strange taste but he should probably pay the government first before buying his lavish possessions.
9. Donald Trump
Multi-billionaire Donald Trump has filed for corporate bankruptcy four times in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009. However, he has never filed for personal bankruptcy – which is an important distinction when considering his ability to emerge relatively unscathed, at least financially. In other words, Trump will never be poor but he’s had businesses fail plenty of times. Doesn’t really look like it stopped him from achieving tremendous wealth and great hair.
10. Cyndi Lauper
Back in 1981 she filed for bankruptcy and had to work in retail before she was famous. This isn’t too big a surprise as many musicians struggled before making it big. However, Lauper is one of the few that actually did file for bankruptcy. Perhaps going on hard times motivated her even more as she was one of the most famous 80s singers of all time. Now she’s still going strong and has more respect from music lovers than she ever did before.
11. Chris Tucker
According to court documents filed at Lake County, the IRS has a lien of $11.5 million so that they can collect federal income taxes. Let’s hope that Tucker gets everything back on track. He had a good role in Silver Linings Playbook and he seems to be showing himself in public more and more. Perhaps he’s out of his financial doldrums. We can’t know for certain however.
12. Tia Carrere
Carrere got greedy. In an attempt to get out of her “General Hospital” contract and join the cast of “The A-Team,” Carrere filed a lawsuit for bankruptcy stating that “General Hospital” was no longer providing her with enough work to sustain her lifestyle. We find that one pretty hard to believe. Come on Tia. You were on a TV show. They must have been paying something decent. We have a feeling that the “lifestyle” was probably above Tia’s means.
13. Toni Braxton
In 1998, Braxton filed for bankruptcy despite having a huge hit album with “Secrets.” She was reported to be in debt for $3.9 million. Her personal possessions were sold including awards she had received. It seemed things were getting better, but Braxton filed for Chapter 7 again in 2010 due to her problems with Lupus, a divorce and a child with autism. She was believed to have debts from $10 million up to a possible $50 million. Though today she seems to be making a nice comeback.
14. Wesley Snipes
He was indicted in 2006 for tax evasion. He apparently tried to cheat the government out of almost $12 million and for not filing any tax returns for six years. In the court case that followed, the claims were affirmed and Snipes surrendered for a jail stint in 2010. Snipes was recently released and will be appearing in some new films but Snipes is known as one of the more obvious tax evaders in Hollywood. He was also one of the biggest leading men in the 90s.
15. Gary Busey
At his lowest point, Busey was said to have less than $50,000 in assets to his name even though he has appeared in over 70 films including “Lethal Weapon” and “Point Break.” We wish we could say this surprises us but let’s face it. Busey doesn’t exactly have all his ducks in a row. Have you seen those crazy Amazon Fire TV commercials? Plus, look at this picture!