12 Hollywood celebrities who blew their fortune and became broke

Updated on August 16, 2022 21:28 PM by Dhinesh

Many a time, fans wonder what happened to their famous Hollywood celebrities as some gradually and many directly disappear from the limelight. When we enquire deeply about what happened to them, in most cases, we would know that they have a tough time managing their financial management, From being rich, they would have broken to nothing, and the reason is huge. This is due to these celebrities’ poor financial planning, bad investment decisions, lavish lifestyle, trusting the wrong person, costly divorces, and others.

As a result, they file for bankruptcy and even could not pay their taxes as fame and money go hand in hand, whereas managing money doesn’t. Some celebrities might be quite famous but don’t have a huge net worth. Despite making millions a year, they end up broke. And here are 12 Hollywood celebrities who blew up all their fortune of net worth and became broke.

Kim Basinger lost fortune over a lawsuit

Hollywood actress, the superstar of her time and best known for her role in movies like "Never Say Never Again," earned huge fortune through her acting career. She was so rich that she bought an entire town in Georgia in cash for $20 million. At that time she had a net worth of $5.5 million.Things didn’t go as she planned, a huge turmoil ended her financial stability as the Georgia investment was a total flop and her costly divorce with Alec Baldwin completely shattered her and her money. This was followed by a lawsuit.

She was sued for $6.4-million for not starring in the film 'Boxing Helena’ on breach of contract filed by Main Line Pictures Inc., But her response to the Los Angeles Superior court jury was that some scenes involved nudity that she was unable to act. She was found guilty and was asked to pay for the compensation. Due to the series of incidents that followed she filed for bankruptcy and lessened the money she owed to the studio.Her last major role was in the movie "8 Mile" in 2002 and now she is appearing only for smaller roles.

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Pamela Anderson tax evasion made her broke:

Pamela Anderson who stared as a Former Baywatch star got into trouble due to tax evasion and by that time she was constructing her mansion in 2009. She was unable to cover cost of both and later hitted the list of California’s huge tax debt.Only in 2020, she married Jon Peters and 12 days later she divorced him. In an exclusive interview with Page Six she said, she talked about her former husband Jon Peters being so controlling. While Jon Peters was requested through a mail for which he responded

“I dropped everything for Pam, She had almost $200,000 in bills and no way to pay it so I paid it and this is the thanks I get. There’s no fool like an old fool.”In 2020, she married producer Jon Peters and divorced 12 days later. In her interview with Page Six, Pamela Anderson claimed that his former husband Jon Peters was too controlling, while Peters said that everything she told Page Six was a lie.

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Lindsay Lohan lost wealth due to partying nature:

This once gorgeous lady had a pretty future in front of her no one to be blamed, she ruined it. Lindsay Lohan who starred in movies like "The Parent Trap," "Mean Girls," and "Herbie: Fully Loaded," while rising to stardom.Later her partying nature and substance abuse, made her difficult to cast in movies. Being a young teen, her wrong decisions made her to lose financial stability and started to lose money.

Due to her issues with alcohol her net worth reduced from $28 million to $1 million. Along with this she has been on and off from rehabitation center. At one point of time, it was Charlie Sheen who actually helped her to clear her off the bills as she was broke.In 2019, she filmed for an MTV reality series called, "Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club," which was filmed in her own home Greece and now she lives in Dubai but occasionally returns to New York.

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Nicolas Cage lost properties

“National Treasure” and “Leaving Las Vegas,” star Nicolas Cage a rising star who earned worth $150 million through his movies and now he is broke. He is so bad in finance that he blew all his money buying expensive properties that made him to owe $6.3 million in property taxes.All together he once owned 15 residents that each worth millions of dollar and he didn’t stop there, he also purchased a haunted house the infamous LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans for $3.4 million.

Along with this he Bought a Nine foot tall burial tomb, two castles, shrunken pygmy heads, a pet octopus, a Lamborghini, owner of first superman comic and bought a 70-million-year-old dinosaur for $276,000 and returned to the Mongolian government after he came to know it was stolen.This way he blew his entire fortune and now that he is completely broke. Just to pay his financial losses, now he is ready to take up any roll and that’s the reason he is ending with bad roles. Nicolas Cage had to return it to the Mongolian government.

Kelis expensive divorce

The "Milkshake" singer Kelis broke after divorcing his husband Nas in 2009, and she was pregnant then. After giving birth to her former husband's child, On July 23, 2009, a judge ordered Nas to pay nearly $44,000 in monthly alimony and child support.In the subsequent years, she made money through her entertainment and touring company as well as her food business, but still, that was not enough.

Her monthly expenses touched $25,000, and she received only $8,000 in child support from Nas, per the Page Six report in 2018.According to the Guardian in 2020, Kelis now lives two and a half hours away from Los Angeles, where she owns a 10-acre farm with her husband Mike, their six-year-old son, and 12-year-old son whom she shares with Nas.

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MC Hammer extravagant lifestyle

The all-time hit "U Can't Touch This" earned MC Hammer, who won Three Grammy Awards in 1990 sold more than 50 million records worldwide; the same year, he made $70 million. And with each subsequent year, he made $30 million. His newfound success lasted only for a few years. His extravagant life of owning a $12 million property in California and spending another $30 million on renovations by adding all lavish amenities employed 200 staff to take care of his property. His monthly expenditure cost him alone $500,000 a month.

Soon in April 1996, the rapper filed for bankruptcy with over $13 million in debt; as a result, he sold all his property for half the rate he bought, and renovation got him just a quarter money back. He then became a preacher and even released some religious songs. And now, he is working as a consultant for eight tech companies. He tried a comeback with South Korean rapper PSY on "Gangnam Style/2 Legit To Quit" for performance at the 2012 American Music Awards.Within five years, the rapper's life ended with earning nothing and broke who once owned a fortune.

Gary Busey erratic behavior lost fortune

In 1988, the most unexpected incident happened to Gary Busey; he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, which caused him serious brain damage. After this road accident, he was never the same, he became more erratic, and his career failed as a result. After this incident, his financial stability took momentum, and in 2012 his net worth reduced to $50,000, and he had ten times more than the debt under his name.

Being broke he filed for bankruptcy as he had owed money to banks, the IRS, and various other people. In 2014, he won the 14th season of Big Brother, and in 2020, he even starred in an Amazon Prime series named "Pet Judge," where he works in a fictional court that resolves to solve the dispute over pets.

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Burt Reynolds lost his fortune by divorce

Burt Reynolds went broke due to the poor investment strategies that moved him from riches to rags due to his ugly divorce battle. He owned an exceptional net worth of $60 million that drastically declined to $5 million. The divorce between Burt Reynolds and his former wife Loni Anderson 1993, who were married for five years, took him 22 years to completely pay alimony to Loni Anderson. His divorce from his wife cost him a huge fortune of $80 million.Though the main reason for his being broke was not divorce alone, his spending habit was also to be blamed.

Along with this, his restaurant business failed too. And in 1996, he declared bankruptcy, and in 2014 he auctioned some of his belongings that clearly showed his financial well off.In his interview with the outlet, he said, "I have been dealing with a business dispute for many years as well as a divorce settlement, I am simply selling some of my memorabilia that I have enjoyed for so many years but do not have use nor room for them anymore."And in 2018, he died of a heart attack.

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Billy Joel failed Brother-in-law

"We Didn't Start The Fire" singer Billy Joel had a crystal clear misfortune; he once reported $220 million of net worth through concert sales, record sales, and music videos. He hired a manager named Frank Weber, his former brother-in-law, to manage his financial assets. As a result, his asset reduced to $130 million. The real story behind his financial loss was that in 1979, Billy Joel separated from his wife, Elizabeth Weber. Following this, he went to his former wife's brother and asked him to handle his finances. Her brother took this as an opportunity and used millions of Billy Joel's money without his consent.

He was even called the godfather of Billy and Elizabeth Weber's daughter, Alexa. Due to Billy Joel's blind trust, he gave complete financial control to Frank Weber, which made him broke, losing huge fortune.Later he got to hold Frank Weber and sued him for $90 million on charges of fraud and breach of financial duty. Only later was he aware that Frank took $10 million and invested for his benefit, and another series of allegations followed this. Then the court made Frank Weber final settle with $8 million; with full potential came back and wrote an autobiography entitled "The Book of Joel: A Memoir." And now, his current net worth is $225 million.

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Mike Tyson lavish lifestyle

The fearsome animal in the ring, Mike Tyson, lost a huge fortune of wealth because of the elite luxuries he had to spend around the globe by buying mansions, cars and even owning a tiger. He made a huge fortune just by his boxing fights, which accounted for $700 million, which he invested in his career, including training, accommodation, and other sporting amenities. His total net worth was more than $300 million.

The interesting thing about his wild pet Tiger was that he had 3 Bengal tigers and spent around $60,000 each, with an additional cost of $70,000 on their maintenance and diet. He even invested another $125,000 to hire an animal trainer to take care of his wild pet.Due to his impulse spending habits, he filed for bankruptcy in 2003, and in 2021, his net worth reduced to be $3 million.

Ed McMahon lost wealth due to generosity

Ed McMahon, the sidekick of Jonny Carson in "The Tonight Show." At that time, he owed $664,000 from a mortgage loan of nearly $5 million which made him lose his home in Beverly hill. Ed McMahon's close ones call him a generous man who gives huge tips to servers and other staff members when he visits for dining and helps anyone in need. He even helped his third wife to set up a clothing company. After he broke his neck, he could not work on his career, which made him unable to pay all his debt.

Ed McMahon appeared for a CNN interview with a neck brace along with his wife; in "Larry King Live," he mentioned "If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. A couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that," And in 2009, at the age of 86, he passed away.

Fantasia Barrino

Fantasia Barrino won the American Idol contest at the age of 19. Following this, she topped the No. 1 single and a debut album that went double platinum and was nominated for Grammys. Her second album did not perform well, and she suffered a financial loss which led her to lose her home during her performance on the Broadway stage as part of the cast of "The Color Purple," which received good reviews and standing ovations.

She was the sole breadwinner for her family, including her mother, siblings, and 8-year-old daughter; she found it hard to juggle between different routines and broke. Her investment in real estate did not pay her well; as a result, she got to sell her properties at half the rate. She even went on to sell her house to pay taxes.Later, producer Tyler Perry helped her with her financial needs as they were reportedly super close friends. She admitted her mistakes and tried to come up and try her best to make out a career workout.

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