10 Celebrities Who Filed For Bankruptcy And What They Did Wrong

Celebrities are always associated with fame and wealth. Many of them become millionaires at a very young age. So they are famous for living glamorous lives, and never have issues with money. Still, we have told a lot of inspiring stories of celebrities who started out from nothing and overcome their financial issues.
On the other hand, many celebrities have to declare bankruptcy. From athletes to movie stars, their careers have gone down for many reasons, including a too-lavish lifestyle, a business failure, or sometimes, an unfair recording contract. Anyway, no one else can take responsibility for their decisions.
Below are 10 celebrities who lost all their money, or even have a huge debt. Let’s check them out!

#1 Mike Tyson

Source: miketyson

In the most glorious days, Mike Tyson was the feared boxer to ever step in the ring. He gained more than $400M entire his boxing career, Tyson was also famous for his disastrous spending spree, including big bucks on jewelry, sports cars, mansions, and parties. As a result, he filed for bankruptcy with a dept of $27 million ($18M came from unpaid taxes)

#2 Larry King

Source: larrykingnow

The late Larry King is now known as a legendary broadcaster. But his early days in business were far from glorious. He was arrested and charged with gran larceny after ripping off $5,000 from his business partner at that time. Despite the charges being dropped, he still declared bankruptcy because of four years without work.

#3 Gary Coleman

Source: tucson

Gary Coleman, who was one of the most prominent child actors, gained a hefty $64,000 per week. He went down when the show ended and the cute child actor became an adult. Coleman was shocked when his millions of dollars in the bank went somewhere. He sued his adoptive parent who he accused of squandering his money.
The actor filed for bankruptcy in 1999, associated with debts of more than $70,000. "I can spread that blame all the way around," Coleman said in an interview, "from me to accountants to my adoptive parents, to agents to lawyers, and back to me again.” Coleman passed away in 2010 after suffering a fall.

#4 50 Cent

Source: Theguardian

50 Cent who is also a businessman, make people’s eyebrows raise when he announced his net worth of a half-billion dollars. However, the rapper had to declare bankruptcy in 2015, paying off $22 million in debt.

#5 Kim Basinger

Source: kim.basinger

Actress Kim Basinger bought an entire Georgia town (nearly 1,700 acres with $20 million). Her ambition was to turn that place into a tourist destination by building a movie studio and hosting a film festival. 
However, her plan never came to fruition because she found some financial difficulties which forced her to sell off “her plan”. And the movie studio took her to court. Finally, she won but had to pay a judgment of $8.1 million which led Basinger to declare bankruptcy.

#6 Tom Petty

Source: tompettyofficial

Tom Petty declared bankruptcy in 1979 because of a legal gambit to free himself from a restrictive contract with his record label. "As soon as they thought my action might set an industry precedent," Petty explained, "they rolled out the big guns."
Looking back, Petty said, “It may have been a sham in some ways, the bankruptcy strategy. But ... [the label’s] lawyers figured we’d out-lawyered them.”

#7 Sinbad

Source: eonline

The comedian Sinbad had the same situation as Tion Braxton when gained a record of declaring bankruptcy twice. He first filed for bankruptcy for massive tax dept in 2009. The second time was about his business expenses, in 2013.
When Sinbad announced his bankruptcy for the second time, he was reportedly in the hole for $10 million - $8 million which resulted from unpaid taxes from the years 1998-2006.

#8 Marvin Gaye

Source: officialmarvingayemusic

Marvin Gaye, who is known for a string of hits, including “Heard it Through the Grapevine” and “What’s Going On, declared bankruptcy in 1976 after his divorce with the settlement ultimately demanding that he had to pay $600.000 to his ex-wife. 

#9 Meat Loaf

Source: thesun

Rocker Meat Loaf filed for bankruptcy in the 1980s, not due to a lavish lifestyle but because of a protracted legal battle related to songwriter Jim Steinman and his record label. In 2003, he explained to the Guardian, “They were playing games with me, I had 45 lawsuits totaling $80m thrown at me, it was a game.
And the only way to stop them playing their game was to declare a chapter 11 bankruptcy,” he revealed. “Because every time we'd get one case dismissed, they'd throw another one at me. And everybody thinks I had all this money but I didn't, because CBS did not pay my royalties until 1997. I got paid the royalties for Bat Out of Hell 20 years later.”

#10 Toni Braxton

Source: tonibraxton

R&B singer Toni Braxton was a millionaire at a young age. But she lost all his money not just once, but twice! By the time she sold 20 million albums, she claimed she signed a fake deal that paid her royalties of less than $2,00. She tried launching an unsuccessful lawsuit against her record label, Braxton filed for bankruptcy in 1998.
In 2008, she suddenly canceled her Vegas show because of her health issues. But the insurance company refused to pay up which led her to take all the costs of the canceling shows. Braxton declared bankruptcy for the second time. Braxton now seems to have more financial trouble, with reports in early 2019 alleging she owes more than $500,000 in back taxes.