Randolph Scott also made a stack of money by investing wisely and getting out of Hollywood at the right time. Probably a wise career move as he was never a gifted actor anyway.
Being punched in the head for a living is not conducive to sound fiscal management. David Tua, who coulda been a contender, is I suspect typical of many boxers: he was just a dumb, quasi-illiterate Samoan street kid from South Auckland who could punch a bit. When he was earning millions his managers used him as their own personal ATM machine - mostly legally; he’d sign any contract - and stuck the proceeds into property and shares; he seemed quite happy as long as he had girls, limos and a posse: for a dumb thug from Otara this was paradise, at least until the cheques started bouncing. Now he’s a washed-up wreck who can’t get paying fights but doesn’t have any other marketable skills: he earned tens of millions of dollars in his heyday, and now has nothing to show for it.
That’s fine, but you should still have a college degree. There are hundreds of kids out there going to college on football scholarships, and few of them are called up to the NFL. How seriously will those students take their studies if the NFL snatches up some hot junior with a cannon for an arm?
I think the NFL sets a bad example. Let them finish their degree…they’ll still be young enough to play a good game, and they’ll have some sort of education to fall back on (that’s assuming of course, that the college professors didn’t wink them through classes and give them passing grades to keep them on the team.)
I agree with you, and yet I can see the other side. Play for another year or two, and you run the risk of injury (perhaps ending your potential NFL career before it begins), or having a year where your stats put you in the ninth round of the draft rather than the first. The unpredictable nature of your physical condition and ability to compete creates a drive to enter the big leagues the minute you can.
You always intend to go back after your NFL career is over and get your degree (whether or not that actually happens, and granted, it most likely doesn’t happen). To believe otherwise means to believe less in yourself, and if you’re shooting for the NFL, you can’t afford to be less than 100% convinced.
Why should the NFL care if the player has a college degree?
An opulent lifestyle sure doesn’t seem to help. If you look at those listed the majority could hardly be recognised as living a lifestyle below the radar ( of those with money problems). I guess there are also those who do like to engage in high profile lifestyles and don’t seem to have to worry (Sinatra I think was financially sound).
Cary Grant was renowned for his tightness and died a wealthy man.
Fact, actually. The vast majority die in the same socio-economic class into which they were born. I’m sure you’ll start pulling out “but look at all these people who…” but, as they say, anecdotes aren’t data and successful entrepreneurs are a rare breed.
I read in a biography of him that he would take the Cadillac emblems off his car and the logos and labels off of clothing and other items saying “I’m Cary Grant. They should pay me to use their stuff.” He also loved $1 frozen dinners.
OTOH, he was scrupulous. He was the only one of Barbara Hutton’s 7 husbands not to spend a penny of her money even though she was far richer than he was when they married. By some accounts he later gave her money when she was dying in reduced circumstances (not broke as sometimes reported or as most would understand the term, but cash poor and no longer a multimillionaire]).
Money is too big and too good, even for a late round draft choice. They didn’t go into school as students, they went in as unpaid football players (although, I think you are thinking more about basketball poaching underclassmen rather than football, but same thought). Even when they do finish for a degree, many of them are in name only. Division I athletes are not held to the same standard as other students. Some do make the most out of their education, but others just coast through only to be awakened by the harsh reality that they weren’t good enough.
I’m not sure that we can reduce this simply to entertainers, or assume that it is just those that are unfamiliar with wealth that can squander it.
Case in point: The recently-deceased Huntington Hartford, who, depending on what estimate you chose to believe, may have blown through the equivalent of a billion dollars, and whose assets at death appear to have been limited to those he couldn’t fully get his hands on.
In his case, where the money went is somewhat simplistic: He spent a fortune on a string of projects (including a large number connected to the arts), tended to spent his revenue-generating funds rather than the revenue from them, and failed to generate any sort of revenue flow. Combine this with some bad judgment in what he did with his failed assets (for instance, the mismanagement of a large art collection), add personal problems (of the alimony and consumptive nature), and figure the decline in the value of A&P stock (his chief asset), and the fact that he lost so much is no surprise.
Unless you’re Sharon Stone. I loved it when she walked on stage at the Oscars in a long black skirt and black t-shirt she got at Target, because her designer outfits just didn’t feel right that night! 
Says someone who has provided neither data nor anecdotes.
(Though, we can certainly do without the latter)
Interesting article about a seminar where millionaires send their kids for some financial education.
There is a book by Robert Kiyosaki called Rich Dad, Poor Dad that outlines the philosophical differences b/t the haves and have nots. Excellent read.
It might be an excellent read (I haven’t read it myself), but some pretty substantial criticism suggests that it is probably not excellent advice.
Although he wasn’t the most famous example, another classic is Leon Spinks. He beat Muhammad Ali to become heavyweight champion, and today:
Nice article. He sounds like a nice enough guy too.
One factor that hasn’t been mentioned yet (which I first learned about in a thread I started about Tyson’s incredible debt) is the pernicious practice of spending against future earnings. There are a lot of places, especially high-end stores, that will gladly accept deferred payments from wealthy customers on big-ticket items. These payments are expected to be made from the celebrity’s future income…ergo, spending against future earnings. The problem arises when the future earnings either don’t arrive, or are a lot less than they’re supposed to be (already discussed), or simply aren’t enough to cover everything. All of a sudden there’s a huge debt hole that’s almost impossible to get out of.
Actually, simply going broke isn’t a huge deal. It’s not a pleasant experience, of course, but it teaches a valuable lesson about not living beyond one’s means, and as long as the celebrity is willing to stop living so extravagantly, it only lasts until the next paycheck. Debt, on the other hand, especially monster debts like Tyson’s, can screw a person for life.
Ivylass, I agree with you there. I’m not a jock, never was, never wanted to be. But in had friends in high school who were. One friend of mine was the Big Man on Campus due to his football prowess. The problem was, outside of football he was as dumb as a bag of hammers. He could have been, well, not dumb, but he had no incentive to try and be any smarter. Everyone told him how he’d be such a great football player one day. It was ridiculous.
When the NFL didn’t come a knockin’ as he believed they would all through high school and his one completed year of college…which he flunked out of…he was left high and dry.
Celebs like Wesley Snipes i don’t understand. If I had that kind of money, especially in a dog-eat-dog world like hollywood where you can be the next big thing one day and a nobody the next i’d be overly cautious about my money. Its pure ego to need an entourage, and I’d always make sure my taxes were paid, even if i had to call the IRS directly.
I came in here to mention Fred MacMurray.
I found more info about him via IMDB: At his insistence, all episodes of “My Three Sons” (1960) were filmed out of sequence during the show’s entire run. He would do all of his scenes first, then leave until the next season. All kitchen scenes would be done together, then all scenes in the upstairs hallway would be filmed together, etc. This fact was well concealed until Dawn Lyn joined the cast as Dodie. Her upper front teeth grew in irregularly during the entire 1969-'70 season, from being barely visible in scenes with MacMurray to being plainly visible in scenes without him.
The man is a genius.
Audrey Meadows of Honeymooners had the best agent evar!
This was before cable and the land of 24/7 re-runs.
I cannot find the cite, but I could have sworn her brother was her agent.
The next time someone asks why a battered person doesn’t just leave, I am so quoting that line.