Hi, everybody!
It’s Samantha!
From a soccer legend to an ear-biting boxer, here are several athletes that lost insane
amounts of money!
15.
Evander Holyfield
This guy was a professional boxer from 1984 to 2011.
He’s the only one in history to have won the undisputed championship in two different
weight classes.
Evander was nicknamed “The Real Deal” because he’s the only man to have held the
world heavyweight champion title four times.
He also won a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
But, in June 2008, he was notified by the bank that his ten million dollar mansion would
be foreclosed on.
The mother of his son also filed a suit against him for not paying his monthly three thousand
dollars in child support.
Plus, a landscaping firm sued him for five hundred fifty thousand dollars for services
that he allegedly didn’t pay for.
14.
John Daly
Daly is a professional golfer and is part of the PGA Tour.
He is nicknamed “Long John” because of his driving distance.
He is known for his 1991 PGA Championship victory and for beating Costantino Rocca during
the 1995 Open Championship playoff.
But, Daly is also known for the turmoil in his personal life.
He used to struggle with alcohol addiction and had a gambling problem.
He revealed in his autobiography in 2006 that he had lost about sixty million dollars to
gambling.
Daly lost about one and a half million dollars to a slot machine in Las Vegas’ Wynn Casino.
That same year, he had to pay the Florida Times-Union newspaper three hundred thousand
dollars after he accused them of defamation with no proof.
13.
Diego Maradona
This former professional soccer player is now the manager of Dorados, a Mexican football
club in Culiacan.
As a player, many people have called him one of the best footballers of all time.
Maradona was FIFA Player of the 20th Century.
In 1982, he was making one and a half million dollars per year just from his endorsements.
However, several issues caused him to lose a lot of cash despite his significant salary.
From the mid-1980s to 2004, he struggled with substance abuse, which also interfered with
his athletic ability.
Maradona also dealt with alcohol addiction.
He stated that he’d been clean for two and a half years in 2007.
But, in 2009, he really started losing money.
He owed Italy’s government about forty-five million dollars (or forty million euros),
after failing to pay taxes.
12.
Denny McLain
This athlete is a former professional baseball player and pitched for ten seasons in Major
League Baseball.
He is most well-known for his time with the Detroit Tigers.
He often stirred up controversy because he was very outspoken and harshly judged his
teammates.
In 1970, he went bankrupt despite being the Tigers’ first hundred thousand dollar player;
his loss of cash had to do a lot with his gambling addiction.
Plus, he owed over four hundred forty thousand dollars to various people, including the FBI,
IRS, and the commissioner of baseball.
After his baseball days came to an end, he dealt with some other issues as well.
He faced a twenty-three-year-long prison sentence for moving illegal substances and extortion.
That verdict was thrown out later on, but he ended up serving six years for embezzling
money from the meat-packing company he owned with a business partner.
11.
Terrell Owens
Owens, aka T.O., is known for the sixteen seasons he played in the NFL.
He was initially selected by the San Francisco 49ers and then went to the Philadelphia Eagles,
Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, and Cincinnati Bengals.
However, although he reportedly made about eighty million dollars during his career,
it didn’t last after some wrong decisions.
Owens has talked about his monetary loss, stating, “At that time I got sucked into
wanting to be like everybody else, the guys with the Mercedes and all the flashy cars
and the jewelry…
I think those are some of the most idiotic purchases I think players can do.”
In addition to spending money on a lot of things, Owens also lost one hundred fifty
thousand dollars to fines after “excessive celebrations” for touchdowns.
Plus, his financial advisors reportedly “put him in a series of risky, highly leveraged
ventures,” which he didn’t find out about until 2010.
In 2012, he told GQ that nearly all of his money was gone.
10.
Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson, or “The Answer” as some like to call him, is a former player for the
NBA.
He was named NBA All-Star eleven times, won two All-Star MVP Awards, and was the NBA Most
Valuable Player in 2001.
He played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, and Detroit Pistons.
Iverson reportedly earned about two hundred million dollars throughout his career.
However, he lost a lot of money due to his spending habits.
When he was ordered to pay nine hundred thousand dollars to a jeweler, he admitted that he
didn’t have the cash to pay for it as he’d spent three hundred sixty thousand dollars
on various things, which was about two hundred ninety-five thousand over his monthly income.
Iverson allegedly had gambling and drinking problems as well.
However, a trust fund set up by Reebok ensured that he’d have thirty-two million dollars
to look forward to when he was fifty-five.
But, according to Complex, he may never get that money after breaking the postnuptial
agreement with his now ex-wife.
9.
Bobby Orr
Robert Orr is a former hockey player for the NHL Bruins and Black Hawks.
He was known for his scoring, speed, and ability to make plays that transformed the defenceman
position.
He holds the record for making the most points within a single season and got inducted into
the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979 and was the youngest at the time to receive the honor
at just thirty-one years old.
After he retired, however, it was revealed that Orr was bankrupt, even though he had
been one of the highest-paid players.
His taxes and bills came out to about four hundred sixty-nine thousand dollars, and his
assets only came out to four hundred fifty-six thousand dollars.
Although some of his loss can be blamed on overspending, a lot of it was due to his agent,
Alan Eagleson.
The two were “like brothers” for a long time, but things turned sour when Orr’s
financial struggles came to light.
He cut ties with Eagleson in 1980, and the agent had to purchase six hundred twenty thousand
dollars worth of Orr’s assets.
He also settled for four hundred fifty thousand dollars in court with the Black Hawks for
working as their assistant coach for a brief time.
Eagleson’s malpractice was exposed later on.
8.
Curt Schilling
This former MLB player is notable for helping the Philadelphia Phillies go to the 1993 World
Series.
He also won championships with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Socks in the early
to mid-2000s.
He created The ASL Open as well, a gaming convention centered on the board game Advanced
Squad Leader, after being unable to attend the ASL Oktoberfest.
Schilling paid for the event with his own money.
He also founded Green Monster Games in 2006, which changed to 38 Studios a year later.
Curt released Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in 2008.
In 2010, his company received a seventy-five million dollar loan from the Rhode Island
Board of Economic Development.
However, 38 Studios defaulted on the loan, and the state sued Schilling.
The company was bankrupt in 2012, and of 2016, they agreed to settle out of court for two
and a half million dollars.
7.
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman played in the NBA for the Pistons, Bulls, Spurs, Lakers, and Mavericks.
He is well-known for his rebound and defensive skills and was nicknamed “The Worm.”
Rodman got the NBA All-Defensive First Team honors on seven occasions, NBA Defensive Player
of the Year Award two times, and won the NBA Championships five times.
However, despite his success in the NBA, he dealt with a lot of financial issues over
the years.
When his marriage to Michelle Moyer officially ended, Rodman allegedly owed over eight hundred
sixty thousand dollars in spousal and child support.
He has also been dealing with legal problems on and off for alcohol addiction for years.
Plus, he has gotten a lot of attention for his time spent in North Korea since 2013.
6.
Antoine Walker
This former basketball star played for the Mavericks, Celtics, Timberwolves, Hawks, and
Heat in the NBA.
He won the NCAA championship with Kentucky in 1996, the NBA championship with the Miami
Heat in 2006, and was an NBA All-Star three times.
However, it seems that when many of these guys come into a fortune, they start spending
money on things they shouldn’t.
In 2009, he was charged with writing bad checks to three casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada to pay
his gambling debts, which equaled over eight hundred thousand dollars.
However, a plea agreement allowed him to be put on probation while working to pay his
debts instead of going to prison.
He had also lost a lot of cash back in 2000 when robbers took about two hundred thousand
dollars worth of merchandise from him and his teammate.
In 2010, he filed for bankruptcy when he was almost thirteen million dollars in debt, and
his assets totaled just over four million dollars.
5.
Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen is a former basketball player for the NBA and is most widely recognized
for playing for the Chicago Bulls.
He won six NBA titles with the team.
He was also an NBA All-Star seven times and got the MVP title in 1994.
After he retired, he discovered that his financial adviser, with whom he’d invested over twenty
million dollars, was being investigated for bank fraud.
Robert Lunn, his adviser, got three years in prison for various charges, one of which
was for forging Pippen’s signature on a one and a half million dollar loan to take
care of his own debts.
4.
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
This retired tennis player won six Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, four Grand Slam
singles titles, and four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles throughout her career.
She was also named ITF World Champion in 1994.
She reportedly made about sixty million dollars throughout her career.
However, after retiring in 2002, she found out that her fortune was essentially non-existent.
Vicario said that her parents were always obsessed that she’d succeed as a tennis
star.
She also noted that they were in charge of her training, other career choices, and winnings.
Vicario received monthly payments from her dad, who was supposed to invest the rest of
the finances.
She stated in her memoir, “They left me with nothing and I owe the tax authorities...How
can it be that everything I achieved has vanished, that it does not exist?”
3.
Michael Vick
Michael Vick is known for his time as quarterback for thirteen NFL seasons, most notably with
the Eagles and Falcons.
He holds the record for most rushing yards during his career out of any quarterback and
the most within a single season.
In 2006, it was estimated that Michael Vick was making about twenty-five million dollars
per year.
However, he started dealing with monetary issues after lawsuits, bad investments, and
poor management reared their ugly heads.
In 2007, he was sentenced to twenty-three months in prison on dogfighting charges.
Vick had to pay one million dollars right off the bat to reimburse people for the care
of the dogs that were seized.
Shortly after that, he was accused of defaulting on various loans.
In 2008, he tried to declare bankruptcy, stating that his assets were under fifty million dollars
while his debts were somewhere between ten and fifty million dollars.
2.
George Best
George Best was a professional soccer player who started his career with Manchester United.
He debuted at the age of seventeen and scored one hundred seventy-nine goals over his eleven-year-long
career.
Best was known for his pace, balance, ability to use both feet, and goalscoring.
However, his life took a downfall due to various struggles, especially alcoholism.
He stated, “I spent a lot of money on booze - the rest...just squandered,” in response
to what had happened to the fortune he earned playing football.
Best even stole money from a woman’s purse to fund his drinking in 1981.
He had a liver transplant in 2002 after finding out this his was only functioning at about
twenty percent.
However, Best continued his alcoholism and passed away in 2005.
1.
Mike Tyson
This former professional boxer is well-known as the youngest one to ever win a heavyweight
title.
In 1992, he was sentenced to six years in prison for defilement charges, but he was
released after the first three years.
Tyson participated in several comeback fights after getting out of the slammer, including
a couple with Bruce Seldon and Frank Bruno.
He also regained his heavyweight championship title.
But, he was struggling financially for quite some time; in 2000, Tyson was reportedly over
three million dollars in debt, and although he made sixty-five million dollars that year,
he spent sixty-two of it.
Plus, he was dealing with substance addiction at the time as well.
In 2003, Tyson declared bankruptcy.
He had made about thirty million dollars that year and approximately three hundred million
dollars during his career, but he was still about twenty-three million dollars in debt.
He retired from boxing in 2006 after getting knocked out three times in a row.
After several more years of hardships, Tyson now seems to be doing well.
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