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The rich and famous are a fascinating bunch. We watch their shows, copy their style, and most often, envy their money. However, there are countless demonstrations of these idols painfully illustrating what not do with your finances if financial security is your goal. Here are a few celebrities who lost it all because of some bad decisions.
Nicholas Cage: Dinosaur skulls come with a price
Nicholas Cage made his money in Hollywood the old-fashioned way: by starring in a lot of movies where he yells, chases buried treasure and makes things blow up. This worked well enough for him to amass a fortune of over $150 million, and he then proceeded to spend every dollar of it.
The Telegraph detailed just a few of these purchases, saying that Cage went on a spending spree of buying a haunted murder mansion, a private island, shrunken heads, and, perhaps what is the crown jewel of his Cage purchases, a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus Bataar skull (which, The New York Times mentions, turned out to be stolen and he ended up returning).
CNBC notes that in 2009, Cage declared bankruptcy, owing millions in taxes alone. As a result, today you can find Cage starring in nearly every movie that comes his way, just to stay ahead of his debts.
Johnny Depp: But where has the rum gone?
A modern celebrity, to have a taste for the extravagant, Johnny Depp, amassed more than $650 million over the course of his career, much of which has already been spent. According to MSN.com, as of last year, Depp was struggling to pay the bills and spiraling out of control with his spending. Perhaps $30,000 on wine per month, a $10 million yacht, and roughly 40 full-time employees costing him $3.6 million per year weren't the best of financial choices. Depp claims that this is not his fault and is now reportedly suing his agents for mismanagement of his finances.
Dennis Rodman: Baller no more
Known for his heavily tattooed skin, ever-changing hair color, and intense defensive play, Dennis Rodman was an infamous face on the Chicago Bulls starting lineup during their glory years. Just as extreme as his on-court presence, however, was his lifestyle. Earning a salary of $27 million a year, Rodman found himself swimming in money.
After leaving the NBA, Rodman got divorced and found himself nearly penniless and unable to pay his bills. He also couldn't keep up with all of his child-support payments, to the tune of $809,000 notes the Los Angeles Times. The Guardian reports that Rodman has now found new career in trying to bring professional wrestling to North Korea. Maybe that will save his money woes?
Mike Tyson: Worse than a knockout
Mike Tyson boxed for more than 20 years, where he earned a staggering $400 million dollars. An article by The New York Times outlined that even before his retirement, Tyson was in big financial trouble. His taste for expensive jewelry, cars, Siberian tigers, clothing and parties led to filing for bankruptcy in 2003, with a total of $23 million in debt.
His debts included a $9 million divorce settlement, $13.4 million to the IRS, and $4 million to the British tax authorities. At not even 37 years old, Tyson had a long fight ahead of him. In an interview with CNN, Tyson claims to be out of financial and criminal trouble and is committed to a responsible life with his wife and friends.
Thomas Jefferson: An oenophile to the extreme
Thomas Jefferson died broke. Indeed, the revered founding father and third president of the United States died penniless and for an almost laughably bad reason: He loved expensive imported wine. In speaking of Jefferson's debts, Monticello.org states that he died with nearly $107,000 in debt, the modern equivalent of between 1 to 2 million dollars, much due to his extravagant taste of fine wine.
Jefferson became a big fan of the drink while living in France in the 1780s, and after his return to America, he felt that colonial wine just wouldn't suffice. So, he did what any European-wine loving person would do and started importing his preferred makes from Europe.
In fact, an article by NPR explains that Jefferson was so deep in his European wine-obsession he had it imported in glass bottles and not in the standard wood barrels because he was paranoid about it getting watered down en route. All this added up to a very expensive habit that, costing more than $1 million a year in today's monetary equal.
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