Hey, Millionaire! We're all used to talking about celebrities as the "rich and famous."
But take a closer look, and you might realize that even though they're definitely famous,
they're not all as rich as you think. Many stars who seemed to have a lavish lifestyle were
actually burning through their millions. Sure, some stars were always going to end up broke.
But a lot of the celebrities on this list will surprise you. And some of them lost all
their money in ways you'd never even dream of. I guess even the celebrities who look normal are
secretly weird. In this video, we'll count some celebs that seem rich but actually went broke.
You'll never guess who took our number 1 spot. Let's get to it!
17. Larry King Larry King was firmly part of our culture for half
a century. So it's pretty difficult to believe that there was a time when he was blacklisted
and went bankrupt. His career started in the 60s, but by 1971, he'd run into some trouble. He was
accused of stealing $5,000 from his Wall Street financier partner and was charged with grand
theft. The charges were dropped, as you'd expect. But he was still fired from his job and basically
blacklisted from starting any new jobs in journalism for 4 years! By 1978, he was $350,000
in debt and had to file for bankruptcy. We're all lucky he made a comeback, though - just imagine
what TV and radio would've been like without him! 16. Nicolas Cage
Considering his popularity, Nicolas Cage might seem like a surprising name to see on this list.
But let's not forget he's a well-known eccentric. He had money to burn, earning about $40 million
every year by 2010, and it kept getting better. He had about $150 million in the bank to spend on
weird things. And, as you'd expect, that's exactly what he did. He bought more houses than I can
keep track of, and they're pretty impressive. There was a $25 million Newport Beach home,
a haunted mansion in New Orleans, not one but two European castles, and a whole island
located in the Bahamas. Then, of course, he needed stuff to fill his weird houses with.
So he bought a pet octopus worth $150,000 and a dinosaur skull that must have been worth about an
ounce per dollar, at $270,000. That's about what you were expecting from Cage, right? His fun ended
in 2009 when he lost several properties, and he realized he owed $6 million to the IRS for
unpaid property taxes. Luckily, his renewed fame has helped him pay off his debt and bounce back.
15. Marvin Gaye The soulful singer of 'Sexual Healing'
had more than his fair share of problems before his early death. Marvin Gaye was a superstar,
and that was reflected in his bank balance for years. He was pretty generous with his
money while he had it - he bought his parents a house and even made sure his dad had a gun to
protect the family. That turned out to be a big mistake. The day before Marvin's 45th birthday,
his father shot and killed him with the gun Marvin had bought him. Marvin had been suffering from
mental health issues leading up to his death. His estate was left with a debt of $9.2 million.
Luckily, they could use his music rights to pay it off fast. But it definitely is a tragic story.
14. Aaron Carter Aaron Carter made a name
for himself in his brother's band, The Backstreet Boys. But that didn't mean he didn't see his own
success. He claims he'd actually made $200 million before he turned 18! That's pretty impressive,
but sadly, it didn't last. In 2013, Carter filed for bankruptcy. His debt was staggering. With just
$8000 in assets, he apparently owed $3.5 million! Sadly, he claims all this debt was handed to him
by his parents, who he claims mismanaged his funds while he was a teenager. Luckily, he had paid off
those debts by 2014, but he's still only worth a couple hundred thousand now - nothing close to the
200 million his parents threw away. 13. Randy Quaid
As a star of huge blockbusters like 'Independence Day' and 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation,'
you'd expect Randy Quaid has no problems with money. But actually, he's spent a lot of time
running from law enforcement and collecting huge hotel bills over the last couple of years.
It hasn't quite bankrupted him just yet, but it's not doing his wallet any good. If you're
wondering why he's on this list even though he's not completely broke, I have a good answer! He and
his wife claim they're squandering their fortune this way to escape the Hollywood Star Whackers.
According to them, the Star Whackers are a secret underground cult that assassinates actors to steal
their fortunes. It's an exciting idea, but since Randy is worth less than a million dollars now,
I don't think any assassin cults are interested in killing him for his money anymore.
12. Stephen Baldwin Despite starring in 'The
Usual Suspects' and 'Born on the Fourth of July,' these days, Stephen Baldwin might actually be more
famous for being Justin Bieber's father-in-law. But even with all that money floating around in
the family, Stephen actually went totally broke. He filed for bankruptcy in 2009,
and I think that was probably the right choice considering he was $2.3 million in debt! It
won't surprise you that it took him 10 years to pay it off. It would've taken me a lot longer.
11. Donald Trump Sure, we all know Donald Trump made his name
as a successful businessman. But was he really as successful as his character on The Apprentice
claimed? Not so much. He got his start in business working with his dad. And it was his dad who gave
him a head start when he decided to branch out too, by adding a couple of personal loans on top
of his $1 million trust fund. He invested in casinos, hotels, and apartment buildings, and
every single one of them was a failure. According to the New York Times, between 1985 and 1989,
Trump's businesses lost an incredible total of $359.1 million! And they didn't stop there. He's
had to file for bankruptcy a total of six times, most recently in 2009. Although all those times,
he was only filing for bankruptcy for his businesses. That kept him afloat and mostly
maintained his personal finances, but it sure did leave a lot of broke workers in his wake.
10. Curt Schilling Curt Schilling was one of the
biggest names in baseball, earning an incredible $114 million over the years he was playing.
Interestingly, he decided to go into video games after his retirement. He created a company called
38 Studios and went looking for funds. It turned out to be harder than he thought. So, he invested
$50 million of his own money, plus a $75 million loan from the State of Rhode Island and a couple
other loans between 5 and 10 million from other small investors. You can already see where this
is going. A few bad financial decisions and failed deals later, and he was filing for bankruptcy. But
it wasn't just any kind of bankruptcy. He was $150.7 million in debt! It's not my money but
just looking at that figure hurts. 9. Toni Braxton
Despite Toni Braxton's incredible fame in more than one career, she's the only person on this
list who had to file for bankruptcy not just once but twice! Her fame really took off in 1996
when her huge hit "Un-Break My Heart" spent 11 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list.
It was a huge achievement, and with that kind of fame comes lots of money. But in just 2 years,
Toni was filing for bankruptcy. It was partly due to a lawsuit she'd filed against her record
company because she wanted to end her contract early. But she also claimed in an interview that
she had spent loads of money on something pretty surprising: kitchen stuff and other
household items. I don't know how many plates you have to buy to burn through millions of dollars,
but she'd managed to do it. After that, her fame took off again, thanks to more music. But sadly,
in 2008, she found herself in trouble again when she had to cancel a tour due to health
issues. She lost millions as a result. Hopefully, her reality TV show helped her
bounce back after that. 8. Courtney Love
Courtney Love shot to fame as the super cool wife of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. They were probably the
coolest couple on earth for a while. But, as we all know, it was cut short by Cobain's tragic
suicide. As his wife, Courtney suddenly inherited $27 million! But, Courtney was a true rocker,
and nobody with a rock'n'roll lifestyle has ever stopped partying long enough to manage
their money. She literally blew it all on drugs and parties. On top of that, she's had more than
her fair share of legal battles over the years, even as recently as 2018. She hasn't filed for
bankruptcy, but the Nirvana millions are long gone. She now makes just enough money to live.
7. Janice Dickinson Janice Dickinson is one trend in fashion
that doesn't change. She's been strutting her stuff for over 40 years now and declaring herself
the world's first supermodel. But apparently, all that and years of judging America's Next Top Model
haven't saved her from bankruptcy. She had to file in 2013, claiming she had just $19,000 in assets
but $1 million worth of liabilities, including more than half a million in back taxes. Oops.
6. Jose Canseco Jose Canseco is easily one of the biggest
names in baseball history. His bank balance reflected his shining career, and he earned
about $45 million over the years. Incredibly, he managed to blow it all. But if you asked him,
he'd tell you that none of it was his fault. He's managed to blame nearly everyone on earth for
losing his money - everyone except himself, that is. Of course, he blames his two divorces first,
plus the couple of family members he took care of. But he also loves blaming the government - because
he forgot to pay his taxes. He filed for bankruptcy in 2012 with just $21,000 in
assets and $1.7 million in debts. That's a lot of money loss to blame on other people.
5. Burt Reynolds Burt Reynolds was one of the most popular actors
of his day - and that's no surprise with hit films like 'Smokey and the Bandit' and 'The Cannonball
Run.' But his huge popularity meant he also became one of the highest-paid actors of the 70s and 80s!
It didn't take him long to build his fortune to $60 million. His spending reflected his
bank balance, and his purchases actually make up a pretty impressive list. He had multiple houses,
more than one custom car, a private jet, a helicopter and, unbelievably, 150 horses
and $100,000 worth of wigs. But, as hard as it is to believe, that wasn't what bankrupted him.
It was actually a pretty weird investment that took him down. He somehow convinced his business
manager that it was a good idea to invest in a chain of restaurants called Po' Folks.
I promise that's not a joke. The reviews of the restaurants are about as terrible as you'd expect.
Reynolds was then advised to invest in something else to offset the loss - it was
another restaurant chain, this time called Daisy Diner. Obviously, that also failed miserably.
Daisy Diner alone cost him and his business partner $20 million. On top of those losses,
he was battling through a messy and very expensive divorce. He filed for bankruptcy in 1996, partly
because he couldn't pay back a loan from CBS. He was $10 million in debt - which is an incredible
amount of money, but if you think about the Po' People mistake, I guess it could have been worse.
What's the worst investment idea you've ever heard? Tell us in the comments! The celebs coming
up have even bigger losses, so keep watching! 4. Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger was once one of the most famous people on earth. Her striking good looks helped,
but she was helped along by major roles in films like Batman. But she didn't have the same talent
for investing. She decided the best way to spend her money was to buy an entire town in Georgia
and turn it into a tourist attraction. As you've already guessed, it didn't work out as planned,
and she lost all of the $20 million she invested. Around the same time,
she found herself in the middle of a major lawsuit. She had allegedly verbally agreed
to take on the lead role in the film 'Boxing Helena.' It was going to be directed by David
Lynch's daughter. But it all got a bit messy when Jennifer Lynch started changing the script.
Basinger said they'd lied to her about some stuff and the changes Lynch had made to the script
made the whole film seem more like bad TV than the ambitious film she'd shown interest in.
You'd probably agree with Basinger if you've ever seen the film. But no matter how right she was,
she was still sued for $8.1 million, although some sources say the judge took pity on her
and only made her pay $3.8 million. That didn't help her avoid going bankrupt, though.
3. MC Hammer MC Hammer was all over the airwaves when he
released the hit "Can't Touch This." It's rumoured that the song was such a hit that, by 1991, he was
earning $30 million per year! And that's with $70 million already in the bank. Unfortunately,
MC Hammer seemed to like money a little too much. His big expense was a $30 million custom-built
mansion. It featured indoor and outdoor pools, state-of-the-art control panels for everything in
the house, and three waterfalls, which is exactly 3 more waterfalls than anyone needs. Apparently,
he'd refuse to do anything for himself and instead had 200 staff members to keep everything in order,
costing him about half a million dollars per month. And we haven't even mentioned the horses
and expensive cars. As you can probably tell, he was spending more than he was making. In 1996, he
finally filed for bankruptcy, but he was already $13 million in debt. And it wasn't just back
taxes either. He owed pretty large sums to his brother, plus a couple of limousine companies and
department stores. Of course, all the luxury items he'd gathered were sold to pay off the huge debt.
2. 50 Cent With hits that keep on rolling like 'In da Club'
and Super Bowl Halftime performances, you'd expect 50 Cent to be one of the richest celebs around.
He made a huge mistake a couple of years ago when he posted a sex tape. The tape featured Lastonia
Leviston, the ex-girlfriend of Rick Ross. She was rightly angry when she realized her tape was put
online for everyone to see. She sued him, and the courts agreed, ordering him to pay her $7 million.
On top of that, he'd also just lost $10 million due to failed business investments, and he owed
money to people like his stylist and fitness coach. He eventually had to file for bankruptcy,
despite once being worth about $150 million. Although, to be fair, he has since bounce backed
and is currently a multimillionaire again, but his net worth is nowhere near what it once was.
Finally, we've reached number 1! The person who took our top spot is...
1. Mike Tyson Mike Tyson is a genuine legend. With each boxing
match earning him several million, his net worth soon grew to about $300 million. That's a crazy
amount of money to lose, but Tyson was a pretty big spender. It all started when he was arrested
for the rape of Desiree Washington. He was found guilty and spent 3 years in jail. At least after
hearing that, you don't need to feel bad about him losing all his money. After getting out of prison,
he started spending incredible amounts of money. Soon, he had a $4 million car collection, Bengal
tigers worth $100,000, and he was throwing giant parties which were costing him $400,000 each. Oh,
and there was the $2 million solid gold bathtub he bought for his ex-wife. He finally burned through
all his money by 2003, and he had to file for bankruptcy, claiming he was $23 million in debt,
including $52,000 in unpaid child support. Maybe he'll hold back on the gold bathtubs next time.