# Extremely rich people who went broke **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841 "2010-10-12T00:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/21 "2010-10-12T04:17:57Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [25 Rich Athletes Who Went Broke](http://www.businesspundit.com/25-rich-athletes-who-went-broke/) _Spinks eventually worked for Mike Ditka as a Restaurant greeter. The company fired him. Most recently, he is stable and working at a gym again, only this time it is the YMCA, and he is the janitor._ Damn, that’s just heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/22 "2010-10-12T04:30:30Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > The was a Jewish finacier who personally funded much of the American Revolution, but went broke. I’m drawing a blank on the nane. :smack: He wasn’t Jewish, but you might be thinking of [Robert Morris](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Morris). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/23 "2010-10-12T04:49:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > Henry Pellatt. He was a wealthy industrialist who at one time owned the largest home in Canada. But by the time he died he would have been homeless if one of his former servants hadn’t taken him in. The only reason he got a funeral service was because he was a veteran and received a military service. > > I never heard of him and pulled up pics of his house. [Damn](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QCSI2mEYYj8/TEdAW1FmpsI/AAAAAAAACio/z4odaHsLMAE/s1600/CasaLomaRear.jpg). I think I see part what made him go broke. ([Interior](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ATF9Kp4_AqQ/SoB6OSbmXFI/AAAAAAAAALo/0ga8BO1NM04/casa-loma-interior002.jpg) [pics](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ATF9Kp4_AqQ/SoHd_v6kVhI/AAAAAAAAAQg/JiYIWToXFoE/casa-loma-interior004.jpg).) You might have seen his mansion recently without realizing it. It appeared in _Scott Pilgrim vs the World_. It was the movie set where Scott fought his second battle. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/24 "2010-10-12T04:51:50Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Was it Gary Coleman who went from riches to rags in his lifetime? I thought I read somewhere that at the height of his career he owned something ridiculous like a dozen Rolls Royces? I don’t know the details but apparently a lot of Coleman’s money was gone before he ever had a chance to spend it. He was a minor and his parents had control of his money. They did not handle it wisely. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/25 "2010-10-12T04:55:43Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > _Sports Illustrated_ had an article on this a year or two ago? Their figure was something like 2/3rds of professional players are broke within 5 years of their retirement. They come into gobs of dough, no one tells them how to manage it, and friends and family hover around demanding money. They hire relatives with no clue what they’re doing to manage their fortunes, and it all slips away. I’ve heard that the NFL now requires all new players to attend a mandatory seminar on money management. Obviously some of them are going to ignore what they’re hearing but the league is at least trying. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/26 "2010-10-12T05:06:19Z")
One unusual case of a famous actor going broke was Gabby Hayes. The reason it was unusual was that Hayes went broke first and then became famous. George Hayes and his wife Olive had been successful vaudville stars. They were able to retire in their forties. Then a year later they lost everything in the 1929 stock market crash. Hayes had to come out of retirement and go back to work. He was able to get a job in Hollywood playing a supporting role in a western as the star’s colorful sidekick. Hayes was an educated well-spoken New Yorker who had to learn how to ride a horse and say things like “consarnit” and “dadblamit”. But he did it so well that it became his trademark role and he appeared in dozens of movies and eventually had his own TV show. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/27 "2010-10-12T07:56:46Z")
Redd Foxx made millions of dollars every year at the height of his career. His house and cars were seized for unpaid taxes shortly before he died. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/28 "2010-10-12T11:29:21Z")
**Thomas Gustav Plant** , shoe manufacturer. He built his mansion _Lucknow_ on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, where it still exists and you can tour it. It’s now called _Castle in the Clouds_. It was sold to pay off plant’s debts, although he apparently was able to live there until his death. Plant lost his money, the tour guides tell you, by investing heavily in Russia just before the Revolution. > **[Thomas Gustave Plant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gustave_Plant)** > > Thomas Gustave Plant (1859–1941) was born in Bath, Maine, the son of immigrants from Canada East, who made his fortune manufacturing shoes under the Queen Quality Shoes label. His largest shoe factory, the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory (1896-1976) stood at the corner of Centre and Bickford streets in Jamaica Plain (a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts). Marketing materials from the factory proclaimed it to be the largest shoe factory in the world. > The factory boasted numerous innovations and... ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/29 "2010-10-12T13:38:36Z")
Will Smith admits he mad a lost the fortune he made as a rapper and from TV. He is handling his movie money better. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/30 "2010-10-12T14:00:15Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > Henry Pellatt. He was a wealthy industrialist who at one time owned the largest home in Canada. But by the time he died he would have been homeless if one of his former servants hadn’t taken him in. The only reason he got a funeral service was because he was a veteran and received a military service. > > I never heard of him and pulled up pics of his house. [Damn](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QCSI2mEYYj8/TEdAW1FmpsI/AAAAAAAACio/z4odaHsLMAE/s1600/CasaLomaRear.jpg). I think I see part what made him go broke. ([Interior](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ATF9Kp4_AqQ/SoB6OSbmXFI/AAAAAAAAALo/0ga8BO1NM04/casa-loma-interior002.jpg) [pics](http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ATF9Kp4_AqQ/SoHd_v6kVhI/AAAAAAAAAQg/JiYIWToXFoE/casa-loma-interior004.jpg).) I visited the [Casa Loma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Loma) in Toronto this summer. The tour features a short film of the life of Sir Henry Pellatt. While I do not remember all the fine details, the main reason for his demise was that he heavily invested in the early development of electricity in the city of Toronto. However, due to political pressure, the utility was taken over by the city and/or province apparently giving little compensation to Pellatt. The additional burden of maintaining the lavish castle force him into bankruptcy. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/31 "2010-10-12T14:03:51Z")
Professional football player [Michael Ray Richardson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micheal_Ray_Richardson) was once in our office and had me call him a cab. This is a man who use to take limos. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/32 "2010-10-12T14:40:58Z")
Jackie Coogan earned millions as a child actor ($40 million plus in today’s terms), but since he was a minor, his parents took it all and spent it. He ended up broke and having to sue to get what was left (which wasn’t much). Because of his plight, California passed a law regulating the pay of minor actors (15% is put into trust). He eventually resumed acting and became a TV icon as Uncle Fester in **The Addams Family** For athletes, Joe Louis is a major problem. Though he earned millions in purses over his career, nearly all of it went to his handlers. Nonetheless, he had a lavish lifestyle, spending what he had. His managers also neglected to pay income taxes, so Louis was hit with a tax bill of half a million dollars. With interest, this rose to a million. He eventually got an agreement with the IRS so they weren’t taking everything he made. In one of the best and saddest examples of celebrity endorsements, Louis did an ad for H. & R. Block, wishing they had been around when he was boxing. Veronica Lake was a top movie star of the 40s, making over a quarter million a year. She was known to be difficult to work with, however, and took to drinking once her career faltered (due primarily by a request by the government to cut her long hair, falling in front of her face, which women workers were imitating and getting caught in machinery. She complied, but without the hair, she lacked the sex appeal that made her a star). Lake filed for bankruptcy and the alcoholism got worse. There was a minor scandal when it was discovered that she was working as a waitress. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/33 "2010-10-12T15:02:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Thomas Gustav Plant** , shoe manufacturer. He built his mansion _Lucknow_ on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, where it still exists and you can tour it. It’s now called _Castle in the Clouds_. It was sold to pay off plant’s debts, although he apparently was able to live there until his death. Plant lost his money, the tour guides tell you, by investing heavily in Russia just before the Revolution. > > [Thomas Gustave Plant - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gustave_Plant) **CalMeacham** , you stole my answer. Plant was the first person I thought of, mainly because I live in Castle in the Clouds. Really, I do. In my head. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/34 "2010-10-12T15:05:55Z")
> [@J-P\_L](#): > > I visited the [Casa Loma](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Loma) in Toronto this summer. The tour features a short film of the life of Sir Henry Pellatt. > > While I do not remember all the fine details, the main reason for his demise was that he heavily invested in the early development of electricity in the city of Toronto. > > However, due to political pressure, the utility was taken over by the city and/or province apparently giving little compensation to Pellatt. The additional burden of maintaining the lavish castle force him into bankruptcy. I had been told since I first visited Toronto that you could buy Casa Loma for $1. You just ended up on the hook for all the back taxes and interest, which was over $27,000 in 1933. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/35 "2010-10-12T15:18:55Z")
[Ivar Kreuger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_King) was one of the wealthiest men in Europe in 1930–he owned over 400 companies and was single-handedly bailing out several small nations’ economies. By 1932 his entire financial empire had collapsed, he was bankrupt, and he ended up committing suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/36 "2010-10-12T15:23:12Z")
A lot of lottery winners go the same way. He hasn’t died (yet), but [Michael Carroll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Carroll_(lottery_winner)) is a prime example: > [@](#): > > Michael Carroll (born 29 March 1983), born in Swaffham, Norfolk, UK, is a former binman who won £9.7 million[1] (then US$15.4m) on the National Lottery in November 2002, aged 19. $15 million isn’t “extremely rich”, perhaps, but it’s a lot more than he has now. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/37 "2010-10-12T17:24:00Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Professional football player [Michael Ray Richardson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micheal_Ray_Richardson) was once in our office and had me call him a cab. This is a man who use to take limos. Sorry for the nit pick, but Michael Ray was a basketball player, not a football player. A pretty good one too. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/38 "2010-10-12T17:31:05Z")
[Puyi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyi). ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/39 "2010-10-12T17:51:28Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Donald Trump isn’t dead yet, but it’s a toss-up what part of his cycle he’ll die in. Yeah, he fluctuates, depending on how many banks will lend him how much money. It was not that long ago, when I personally had a couple hundred million MORE dollars than Trump was worth. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841/40 "2010-10-12T18:24:00Z")
At the height of his success Alexandre Dumas, author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, along with countless other fiction and nonfiction works, was one of the wealthiest men in Europe and set out to live life the Count’s style, up to and including a mansion and extensive estate. Of course, writers rarely maintain an income equal to finding a vast treasure trove on a deserted island, and he died destitute. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-rich-people-who-went-broke/556841.md?page=3)