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Seven costly pro athlete screw-ups
stevek
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Seven costly pro athlete screw-ups
By Mark Riddix, Investopedia.com
Mar 10, 1:58 pm EST
Almost 80 percent of National Football League players are flirting with
bankruptcy two years after they retire, according to Sports Illustrated. NBA
players aren't faring much better. 60 percent of former National Basketball
Association players end up broke within five years of retirement. Athletes
squander millions of dollars due to bad decisions, lavish spending and poor
financial planning. Here is a list of athletes that have lost their fortunes
through some of the biggest financial blunders of all time.
Scottie Pippen
Known more for his on court defense than his off court business sense, former
Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen lost $120 million in career earnings due to
poor financial planning and bad business ideas. Air Jordan's sidekick blew $27
million on bad investments and spent $4.3 million on a Gulfstream II corporate
jet.
Evander Holyfield
Four-time boxing champ Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield reportedly made over
$250 million in cash during his boxing career, but despite this he reportedly is
flat broke. Holyfield lost all his money by making "smart" business decisions
look really foolish. You thought buying a house was a smart move? It normally
is, but not when you buy a house the size of Rhode Island. Holyfield bought a
$20 million house with over 54,000 square feet and 109 rooms. The house has 11
bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, a movie theater, a bowling alley and an Olympic-size
swimming pool. Imagine how much it must cost to cut the grass on all 235 acres!
You could buy a Range Rover with the electric bill payment alone.
Lenny Dykstra
Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies star Lenny "Nails" Dykstra was a
success on the baseball diamond, but in the business field Dykstra has struck
out. Dykstra's failed businesses include car washes, a magazine company, real
estate investing and a stock trading website. According to Dykstra's July 2009
bankruptcy filing, he owed more than $30 million to creditors, including his
$18.5 million purchase of Wayne Gretzky's home. The amazing part is that after
two foreclosed homes and numerous failed businesses Dykstra is offering the
investment advice that led him into bankruptcy for a mere $899 a year! In the
investment world, it is often said that past history does not dictate future
performance. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear Dykstra isn't the guy to go to for
advice.
Latrell Sprewell
Look up the word "shortsighted" in the dictionary and you will see a picture of
Latrell Sprewell. He famously turned down a $21 million contract because he said
it wasn't enough money to feed his family. Sprewell, who made over $96 million
during his career, lost his $1.5 million dollar Italian yacht, named
"Milwaukee's Best", in 2007. According to MSNBC, a U.S. marshal seized the yacht
after Sprewell defaulted on his mortgage. His $5.4 million house went into
foreclosure in May 2008. Don't blame Sprewell for turning down the three-year,
$21 million contract though. I mean really, who could live off a measly $7
million a year?
John Daly
Two-time PGA major champ John Daly gambled away between $50 and $60 million in
career earnings, according to his 2006 autobiography. Daly once lost $1.65
million in five hours playing the slot machines at a casino. If you think that's
impressive, there's more. Daly blew $1.2 million in a mere two hours and 30
minutes at a casino in Las Vegas. He just had his $1.6 million house foreclosed
on. Did Daly quit gambling after blowing so much cash at the casino tables? Not
by a long shot. Instead, he decided to downgrade from the $5,000 slot machines
to the $100 and $500 machines. It looks in John Daly's world, that is considered
sound financial planning.
Jack Clark
Former professional baseball slugger Jack Clark was driven into bankruptcy in
1992 by his appetite for luxury cars. According to his bankruptcy filing, he
owned 18 luxury automobiles, including a $700,000 Ferrari and a Rolls Royce.
Clark was trying to pay 17 car notes simultaneously, and whenever he got bored
with a car he would get rid of it and just buy another one. He ended up losing
million-dollar homes and his drag-racing business because of his extravagant
spending habits, but despite one of the most publicized bankruptcies in
baseball, Clark reportedly got back on his feet in the late '90s.
Mike Tyson
The king of them all is boxer Mike Tyson, who squandered a $350 million to $400
million dollar fortune. So what did "Iron" Mike spend his fortune on?
Everything. He dropped half a million dollars on a 420-horsepower Bentley
Continental SC with lamb's wool rugs, a phone and a removable glass roof. It is
one of only 73 Bentley Continental SCs ever built. The sad part is that's not
even the only Bentley that Tyson owned! He spent over $4.5 million dollars on
cars alone. Throw in a $2 million dollar bathtub and $140,000 for two Bengal
tigers and you can see why Tyson's fortune is down for the count. He filed for
bankruptcy in 2003.
By Mark Riddix, Investopedia.com
Mar 10, 1:58 pm EST
Almost 80 percent of National Football League players are flirting with
bankruptcy two years after they retire, according to Sports Illustrated. NBA
players aren't faring much better. 60 percent of former National Basketball
Association players end up broke within five years of retirement. Athletes
squander millions of dollars due to bad decisions, lavish spending and poor
financial planning. Here is a list of athletes that have lost their fortunes
through some of the biggest financial blunders of all time.
Scottie Pippen
Known more for his on court defense than his off court business sense, former
Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen lost $120 million in career earnings due to
poor financial planning and bad business ideas. Air Jordan's sidekick blew $27
million on bad investments and spent $4.3 million on a Gulfstream II corporate
jet.
Evander Holyfield
Four-time boxing champ Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield reportedly made over
$250 million in cash during his boxing career, but despite this he reportedly is
flat broke. Holyfield lost all his money by making "smart" business decisions
look really foolish. You thought buying a house was a smart move? It normally
is, but not when you buy a house the size of Rhode Island. Holyfield bought a
$20 million house with over 54,000 square feet and 109 rooms. The house has 11
bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, a movie theater, a bowling alley and an Olympic-size
swimming pool. Imagine how much it must cost to cut the grass on all 235 acres!
You could buy a Range Rover with the electric bill payment alone.
Lenny Dykstra
Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies star Lenny "Nails" Dykstra was a
success on the baseball diamond, but in the business field Dykstra has struck
out. Dykstra's failed businesses include car washes, a magazine company, real
estate investing and a stock trading website. According to Dykstra's July 2009
bankruptcy filing, he owed more than $30 million to creditors, including his
$18.5 million purchase of Wayne Gretzky's home. The amazing part is that after
two foreclosed homes and numerous failed businesses Dykstra is offering the
investment advice that led him into bankruptcy for a mere $899 a year! In the
investment world, it is often said that past history does not dictate future
performance. Nevertheless, it's pretty clear Dykstra isn't the guy to go to for
advice.
Latrell Sprewell
Look up the word "shortsighted" in the dictionary and you will see a picture of
Latrell Sprewell. He famously turned down a $21 million contract because he said
it wasn't enough money to feed his family. Sprewell, who made over $96 million
during his career, lost his $1.5 million dollar Italian yacht, named
"Milwaukee's Best", in 2007. According to MSNBC, a U.S. marshal seized the yacht
after Sprewell defaulted on his mortgage. His $5.4 million house went into
foreclosure in May 2008. Don't blame Sprewell for turning down the three-year,
$21 million contract though. I mean really, who could live off a measly $7
million a year?
John Daly
Two-time PGA major champ John Daly gambled away between $50 and $60 million in
career earnings, according to his 2006 autobiography. Daly once lost $1.65
million in five hours playing the slot machines at a casino. If you think that's
impressive, there's more. Daly blew $1.2 million in a mere two hours and 30
minutes at a casino in Las Vegas. He just had his $1.6 million house foreclosed
on. Did Daly quit gambling after blowing so much cash at the casino tables? Not
by a long shot. Instead, he decided to downgrade from the $5,000 slot machines
to the $100 and $500 machines. It looks in John Daly's world, that is considered
sound financial planning.
Jack Clark
Former professional baseball slugger Jack Clark was driven into bankruptcy in
1992 by his appetite for luxury cars. According to his bankruptcy filing, he
owned 18 luxury automobiles, including a $700,000 Ferrari and a Rolls Royce.
Clark was trying to pay 17 car notes simultaneously, and whenever he got bored
with a car he would get rid of it and just buy another one. He ended up losing
million-dollar homes and his drag-racing business because of his extravagant
spending habits, but despite one of the most publicized bankruptcies in
baseball, Clark reportedly got back on his feet in the late '90s.
Mike Tyson
The king of them all is boxer Mike Tyson, who squandered a $350 million to $400
million dollar fortune. So what did "Iron" Mike spend his fortune on?
Everything. He dropped half a million dollars on a 420-horsepower Bentley
Continental SC with lamb's wool rugs, a phone and a removable glass roof. It is
one of only 73 Bentley Continental SCs ever built. The sad part is that's not
even the only Bentley that Tyson owned! He spent over $4.5 million dollars on
cars alone. Throw in a $2 million dollar bathtub and $140,000 for two Bengal
tigers and you can see why Tyson's fortune is down for the count. He filed for
bankruptcy in 2003.
0
Comments
Steve
Steve
<< <i>Steve you forgot to include Juan Gonzalez didn't he turn down a ton of money too?
Steve >>
Yeah, but that wasn't bad investments just poor decisions on accepting contracts. Still, he did lose out on a ton of $$ when he didn't accept the Tigers offer to resign.
Curious what wacky ideas he had.......they must be almost comical!
<< <i>Scottie Pippen blew thru $120 million in poor planning and bad business ideas?
Curious what wacky ideas he had.......they must be almost comical! >>
Perhaps he invested it all in his 88/89 Fleer rookie cards??
I think Antoine Walker is another one. I heard he made over $100 million in his career, and he is flat broke.
Shane
Working on the following: 1970 Baseball PSA, 1970-1976 Raw, World Series Subsets PSA, 1969 Expansion Teams PSA, Fleer World Series Sets, Texas Rangers Topps Run 1972-1989
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SI sucks now, but the SI vault is awesome
The real story for Holyfield is expensive girlfriends and divorces
For a lot of others add that idiotic entourage and their is no way they aren't going to be sucked dry making backup money
They earn their millions by having extremely high testosterone, taking risks and having a single minded focus on their craft. It is unavoidable
<< <i>But didn't Harvard educated Cramer say that Nails was one of the great ones?
Steve >>
I bet that fool Bernard Schwartz would like all the copies of his hilariously fawning profile of Dykstra that ran on (the normally excellent) Real Sports about a year before it all hit the fan to be tracked down and destroyed. He actually tried to pass that oaf off as some sort of financial wizard.
Scottie Pippen: providing the world with an endless supply of comedy for over two decades.
So I guess they give new meaning to the term, 'giving back to the fans'.
OK, now I wanna know Pippen's 65 million dollars worth of bad planning & ideas!