If you’re having serious financial issues that might result in personal bankruptcy, take heart: you’re not the only one. In addition to millions of everyday people who’ve had to file for bankruptcy, there are more than a few whose names nearly everyone recognizes.
Yes, even the wealthiest and most powerful of celebrities have fallen on hard times, though some are able to hide their troubles behind corporate bankruptcy claims rather than personal. Courtesy of experience bankruptcy lawyers Las Vegas, here are seven famous Americans who’ve filed at least once.
Mike Tyson — He was Iron Mike in the ring, and he feared no one in his prime. Well, no one except bill collectors. By the time of his 2003 filing, Tyson had gone through a personal fortune of about $400 million. Somehow, he even owed the British tax authority $4 million.
Willie Nelson — The country music legend was “On the Road Again” almost permanently to get back in the good graces of the Internal Revenue Service. The feds said he owed some $16.7 million in back taxes, which triggered Nelson’s bankruptcy — but didn’t get him out of the hole with the IRS.
Kim Basinger — The actress filed for bankruptcy in the 1990s after losing a court case and being successfully sued for $7.4 by Main Line Pictures, a film production company said that she’d agreed to star in “Boxing Helena,” and that when she later bowed out it caused steep losses.
Burt Reynolds — The iconic star raced through “Smokey and the Bandit,” but he couldn’t outrun his creditors. Reynolds filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 after wild spending, a series of bad investments and an expensive ruptured marriage to Loni Anderson.
50 Cent — It’s too easy and inaccurate to joke about how perfectly the chosen name of rapper Curtis James Jackson III reflects his net worth today. But 50 Cent did apparently blow through a good deal of the $155 million he used to have before declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015.
Mick Fleetwood — The drummer and partial namesake of Fleetwood Mac filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1984, at the height of his band’s global popularity. He blamed the cash problems in part on a cocaine addiction that cost him a reported $8 million.
MC Hammer — It was Hammer time big time in America in the eighties and early nineties, due to the insanely popular rap star. But when the hits stopped the spending didn’t. The former Stanley Kirk Burrell found himself in bankruptcy court in 1996.
President Donald Trump — The current president of the United States is quick to point out that all four of his bankruptcies were corporate, not personal. A billionaire’s gotta do what a billionaire’s gotta do.
See? You’re not alone. If you’re facing impossible odds, consult an experienced Chapter 7 bankruptcy Las Vegas attorney. Contact Vohwinkel & Associates today.
