Famous Individuals and Companies that Have Filed for Bankruptcy

Remember that all these high profile people (some who could be considered well off) all filed for bankruptcy protection. If someone that well off can get into financial trouble it can happen to anyone. These notable people took advantage of their constitutional right to use bankruptcy to address their financial problems and were given a chance to get a fresh financial start and get their financial affairs back on track. Bankruptcy can be an option for Debt Relief and can put you back in control of your finances. Don’t lose everything. Get help today.

A

Abraham Lincoln- 16th President of the United States
Benedict Arnold – Betrayed colonists to British
John James Audubon – Illustrated Birds of America

B

P.T. Barnum – The Great American circus owner
John Barrymore – Actor; Romeo & Juliet
Lionel Bart – British composer – lyricist – playwright (1972)
Kim Basinger – Oscar – winning actress (1993)
Frank Baum – Wizard of Oz author
Barbara Bel Geddes – Actor; Miss Elle on Dallas
Melvin Belli – Famous Lawyer known as ‘The King of Torts’
Bunny Berigan – Jazz trumpeter great
George Best – Manchester United soccer
Buffalo Bill – Wild West showman
Jay Black – Rock star, lead member of “Jay and the Americans” (1986)
John Wayne Bobbitt – Penectomy survivor
Peter Bogdanovich – American Filmographer
Bjorn Borg – Pro tennis player
Lorraine Bracco – Oscar – nominated actress (1999)
Matthew Brady – Portrait / US Civil War photographer (1872)
Toni Braxton – Rock star (1998)
Louise Brooks – Actor; Pandora’s Box
Sylvia Browne – Afraid to accept Randi’s $1million challenge
Lenny Bruce – Comic; Multiply obscene comic
Mark Brunell – NFL Quarterback, listed assets of $5.5 million and liabilities of $24.7 million.
Gary Burghoff – Radar O’Reilly in MASH
Anita Bryant – singer, 1958 Miss America 2nd runner up (1997)

C

Crazy Cabbie – Radio personality on the Howard Stern menagerie
Tia Carrere – Actor; Wayne’s World
Nell Carter – Actor; Housekeeper on Gimme a Break
Raymond Carver – Author; Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
Miguel de Cervantes – Novelist; Don Quixote
George Clinton – Rock star (1984) (note: this is not the composer George S. Clinton)
Samuel L. Clemens (“Mark Twain”) – Best – selling American author – humorist (1894)
Natalie Cole – Singer
Gary Coleman – Actor (1999)
Concrete Blonde – Rock group
John Connally – Former Texas Governor, wounded in 1963 Kennedy assassination in Dallas (1987)
Francis Ford Coppola – Oscar – winning film writer – director – producer (1999)
Cathy Lee Crosby – Actress – American Author (1992)
David Crosby – Singer / songwriter
Aleister Crowley – Wickedest man in the world

D

Vic Damone – Singer (1971)
Dorothy Dandridge – Oscar- nominated actress singer (1963)
Darren Day – Music Theater Star
Daniel Defoe – Author; Robinson Crusoe
Lee De Forest – Oscar-winning film/sound synchronization pioneer, producer (1937)
Dino De Laurentis – Oscar – winning film producer (1988)
John DeLorean – Automobile designer and entrepreneur
Clarissa Dickson Wright – Star of “Two Fat Ladies” TV cooking show fame (2003)
Walt Disney – Oscar – winning film producer, animation & theme park pioneer (1923)
Henry Dunant – Red Cross founder
William C. Durant – Founder of General Motor

E

Eddy “the eagle” Edwards – Great Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper (1991)
Chris Eubank – Former World Champion Boxer (2005)

F

Keith Famie – Survivor II: The Australian Outback contestant, chef-restauranter, American Author (1996/97)
Freddy Fender – Musician; Before the Next Teardrop Falls
Stephin Fetchit – Actor; Professional black stereotype
Eddie Fisher – Singer; crooner dumped by Liz Taylor
Mick Fleetwood – Rock star, lead member of “Fleetwood Mac” (1984)
Heidi Fleiss – Clothing line founder; American author
Henry Ford – Automobile manufacturer
William Fox – Co-Founder of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (1936)
Red Foxx – Actor – entertainer
R. Buckminster Fuller – Architect-futurist-invented the geodesic dome

G

Zsa Zsa Gabor – Cop-slapping Gabor sister
Marvin Gaye – Singer (1970s)
Andy Gibb – Rock star (1987)
Gary Glitter – Rock and Roll Part 2
Bernhard Goetz – Subway vigilante criminal
Charles Goodyear – 19th century American inventor, who discovered how to vulcanize rubber
Ulysses S. Grant – 18th US President; Civil War general, best-selling American Author, face is pictured on the US fifty dollar bill ( 1884 after leaving office)
Elizabeth Ward Gracen – actress; model; Miss America 1982 (1999)
Paulo Gucci – 1993
Bob Guccione – Publisher and founder of Penthouse magazine (2003)
Johannes Gutenberg – Inventor of movable type
Tony Gwynn – Batted .394 in 1994 for the Padres

H

Merle Haggard – Country music star (1993)
Corey Haim – Actor (1997)
Frans Hals – Dutch portraitist
Dorothy Hamill – Olympic gold-medal ice-skater (1996)
M.C. Hammer – Rock star (1996)
George Frideric Handel – Messiah composer
Richard Harris – Oscar-nominated actor-producer-director
Isaac Hayes- Oscar-winning songwriter – composer – musician -singer (1976)
H.J. Heinz – Founder of Heinz Ketchup
Margaux Hemingway – Troubled actress OD’d on klonopin
Sherman Hemsley – Actor (2002)
Ty Herndon – Country music star caught in Cruisy Park
Milton Snavely Hershey – Founder of Hershey’s chocolate
Kent Hovind – Creation Science huckster
Steve Howe – MLB pitcher
E. Howard Hunt – Coordinated Watergate break-in
Nelson Bunker Hunt – Tried to corner the silver market

I

Ron Isley – Rhythm-and blues singer (mid late 1990s)

J

La Toya Jackson – Rock star (1995)
Don Johnson – Actor-producer
Eli Jacobs – Former Baltimore Orioles owner
Janice – Marie Johnson – Rock star/disco diva (1980s)
Al Jolson – Miami Vice, Nash Bridges
George Jones – Country singer
Grace Jones Singer – Entertainer 1992
Kacey Jones – Country music star, musical humorist
Clay Jordan – Survivor V: Thailand contestant; restauranter (2001)

K

Chaka Kahn – Rock star
Charles Keating – Morality crusader, white-collar swindler
Buster Keaton – Actor, The General
Bernard Kerik – NYC Police Commissioner, 2000-2001
Margot Kidder – Lois Lane in Superman movie
Larry King – Talk-show host, best selling American author (1978)
Robert Kiyosaki – Rich Dad, Poor Dad author
Marion “Suge” Knight – Death Row Records Rap Producer 2006
Bowie Kuhn – Former US baseball commissioner
Gary Kurtz – Oscar-nominated film producer

L

Veronica Lake – Actress (1951)
Lorenzo Lamas – actor (2004)
Cyndi Lauper – Rock star (1983)
Anton LaVey – Founder of the Church of Satan
Stan Lee – Comic book industry pioneer , co-creator “Spider Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The X-Men” etc (2001)
Jerry Lewis – Comic
Jerry Lee Lewis – Famous Rock n’ Roll star
Horace Liveright – Publisher of the Modern Library series
Meat Loaf – Rock star (1983)
Joe Louis – Boxer 1956

M

Ashley MacIsaac – Musician fiddler (2000)
Jackie Mason – Comedian – entertainer
Henry Mayhew – Punch journalist
Mindy McCready – Country Music star , American author
George McGovern – Politician 1991
William McKinley – 25th US President 1897-1901
Tom Metzger – White supremacist
Marvin Mitchelson – Celebrity divorce lawyer
Melba Moore – Singer – Actress
Debelah Morgan – Singer -Songwriter – Producer (2000)
Lorrie Morgan – Country music star, American Author
Robert Morris – Politician who financed Revolutionary War
Levi P. Morton – Vice President under Benjamin Harrison
Motor City Five/MCS – Rock group of the 1960s (1970)

N

John Nash – British Regency architect
Willie Nelson – Singer-songwriter-actor, American Author (1990)
Wayne Newton – Singer-actor – entertainer (1992)
Harry Nilsson – Singer/songwriter; Me and My Arrow
F. Donald Nixon – Nixon’s brother
Immanuel Nobel – Father of manufacturers – philanthropist Alfred Nobel , who founded the Nobel Prize (twice – 1833/year Alfred was born, 1856/ when Alfred was 23)
Mary Nolan – Actress (1931)
Emperor Norton – Emperor of the United States and protector of Mexico
Ted Nugent – Rock Star

P

Thomas Paine – Common Sense activist
Johnny Paycheck – Country music star (1976)
Tom Petty – Rock star (1979)
Gaylord Perry – Baseball player
Philip II – King of Spain, 1556-1598
Buddy Post – Lottery millionaire
Susan Powter – Exercise/fitness expert, talk show host, best selling American Author (1995)
Burt Prelutsky – American television writer; screenwriter (1997)

Q

Randy Quaid – Actor

R

Lynn Redgrave – Actress
Rembrandt – Painter
Tommy Rettig – Actor; Jeff Miller in Lassie
Burt Reynolds – Oscar-nominated actor – director , American Author (1995)
Debbie Reynolds – Oscar nominated actress-singer, American Author (1997)
Mickey Rooney – Oscar nominated actor, American Author (1962)
Rick Ross – Activist; cult expert, deprogrammer
Run DMC – Rap Group in 1993

S

Harry Saltzman – Film producer (James Bond movies) (1975)
Derek Sanderson – Hockey Player
Ray Sawyer – Rock star, member of “Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show” (1973)
Oskar Schindler – Activist who saved over 1000 Jews from the Nazis
Shenandoah – Country music band (1991)
Billy Sims – Detroit Lions RB
Tom Sizemore – Heat, Robbery Homicide Division actor
Anna Nicole Smith – Model-Actress, 1993 Playboy magazine “Playmate of the Year”(1996)
Dee Snider – Frontman for Twisted Sister, musician
Phoebe Snow – Jazz vocalist
Lynne Spears – American author, mother of rock star Britney Spears (1998, filed with husband James prior to Britney’s stardom)
Leon Spinks – Boxer
Sheryl Swoopes – Three-time WNBA MVP
J. Fife Symington – Governor of Arizona (1995, while still in office)

T

Lawrence Taylor – NFL hall of famer
Randall Terry – Operation Rescue founder
Nikola Tesla – Invented alternating current
Donald Trump – Billionaire entrepreneur
TLC – Rock group (1995)
Mark Twain – Huckleberry Finn author
Mike Tyson – Boxer (2003)

U

Johnny Unitas – Legendary Hall of Fame football quarterback

W

John Whitehead – Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now, musician
Oscar Wilde – Acclaimed poet and author
James Wilson – U.S. Supreme Court Justice 1789-1798
Tammy Wynette – Country music star (1988)

Z

Florenz Ziegfeld – Actor, the Ziegfeld Follies

Companies

Lehman Brothers – Listing over $600 billion in assets
Trump Hotels and Casinos, Trump Entertainment Resorts – Listing assets of $2.06 billion and a debt of $1.74 billion
Chrysler – One of the pillars of the U.S. industrial economy
General Motors – Filed bankruptcy in June 2009 – despite over $19.4 billion in federal help
Kenny Anderson – Point guard who earned an estimated $60 million during his NBA career
Antoine Walker – Reportedly earn $110 million in the NBA, listing assets of $4 million and liabilities of almost $13 million.
Los Angeles Dodgers – estimated value from $800 million to more than $1 billion, and the team owes more than $700 million in debt and pending financing.

Top 10

1. MC Hammer
Ask anyone who grew up in the 1990′s to name an MC Hammer song, and I can guarantee that not only do they know lyrics, but they also had the dance moves to go with them. As one of the biggest hit makers during his time, MC Hammer had an entourage that rivaled the Queen of England’s- and it showed on his bankroll.

He paid 300 people approximately $500,000 a month. Apparently he wasn’t “Too legit to quit” because in 1996 he filed for bankruptcy to stop paying on the $13 million he owed. The debts included $110, 000 to an interior decorator, $100,000 to the IRS, and over $500,000 to a lawyer.

2. Burt Reynolds
In the 1970′s Burt Reynolds was the man. He owned mansions on both coasts, a helicopter, a Florida ranch and a hot wife. Life couldn’t get better, so instead it got worse.

After a few not-so-stellar movie choices, and a pretty pricey divorce from his wife, his finances weren’t the hottest. In 1996 Reynolds filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing over $10 million in debt. He was able to keep his $2.5 million dollar Florida home under the Chapter 11 homestead exemption, and paid back a portion of the debt over the next two years.

3. Larry King
Larry King estimated wealth today is at $50 million, nearly 30 years after filing bankruptcy. In 1978 King was in a dire financial situation. He had been accused of stealing money from his business partner and charged with grand larceny. The charges were dropped, but the scandal hadn’t help with his career.

Eventually his talent shined as the scandal dimmed, and after a few good money moves (and a few good prenups -he’s been married seven times), he’s found monetary success.

4. Willie Nelson
Willie had a similar problem as MC Hammer; he liked a big entourage and he paid them well. So well, in fact, that his sideman drummer is in the “Guinnes Book of World Records” as the world’s highest-paid for his position.

In 1990 the government was tired of waiting for $16.7 million in past taxes, so they seized his bank accounts, his Texas ranch, and his gold records. Nelson released an album called “The IRS Tapes: Who Will Buy My Memories?”- and became a Taco Bell spokesperson- to help settle his debts. In 1993 his bill was officially paid and his finances back in stable order.

5. Donald Trump
Besides his hair, Donald Trump is famous for his successful real estate adventures and extravagant lifestyle. And then there are his bankruptcies, err, his casinos. His casino ‘empire’ first filed bankruptcy in 1992. Then again in 2004. And then again in February 2009.

He’s lost billions in this business venture, yet fortunately for Trump he has his TV gig and real estate to keep his personal finances afloat.

6. Don Johnson
Pay attention to this one, it has a better plot line than most of the shows this celebrity has been a part. Don Johnson, known mostly for his Miami Vice days, is the owner of a poorly named company called Timber Doodle Glad Equity Venture LLC, and he also owns a ranch called Woody Creek in Denver, Colorado.

In March of 2004 Johnson owed $950,000 to City National Bank, which was just a small part of his $14.5 million in debts. City National Bank filed a lawsuit to auction off his house in order to pay for their portion. So Johnson had his company file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to use the money that should have been going to creditors to pay off his personal debts, which he was able to with less than 24 hours before the auction of his ranch. Whew… what a nail biter!

7. Mike Tyson
As one of the youngest heavyweight champions ever, Mike Tyson earned millions for just one fight, receiving over $300 million in his career. He was a big guy, making big money, and spent it on a big lifestyle. One of those big purchases was a pair of pet tigers, which was just a small dent in his big debt.

Tyson owed $13.3 million to the IRS, had $400,000 in monthly expenses, and had amassed a bill of $27 million dollars owed to creditors. In 2003 both he and his company, Mike Tyson Enterprises, filed for bankruptcy. Now all he has is his tattoo and gold teeth.

8. Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton, also known as Mr. Las Vegas because of his 30,000 solo shows in the city, had to file for bankruptcy in 1992. He spent years suing NBC in a nasty libel case about ‘apparent’ ties with the mafia and eventually accrued over $25 million in debt, including $341,000 for back taxes.

Luckily for him, dark hair and fake tans brought him fame and fortune at the Stardust Hotel, which has a contract that ‘apparently’ pays him $25 million a year for performing 40 weeks out of the year for 10 years. He’s been sittin’ pretty in sin city since 1999.

9. Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger is a model turned actress, and a good one at that. Not only is she good looking, but she made good career moves that led her to win a Golden Globe Award, Academy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Unfortunately, she’s not as good as an entrepreneur. In 1989 Basinger bought a small town in Georgia that she wanted to turn into a Hollywood hangout with movie studios and film festivals. She also decided to back out of the movie “Boxing Helena” (good career move). Basinger was sued for backing out of the movie and after encountering financial difficulties with make a small city in Georgia cool, she filed for bankruptcy in the early 1990′s.

10. Cyndi Lauper
In the 1980′s you couldn’t go an hour without hearing one of Cyndi Lauper’s pop hits, but it wasn’t always that way. Before her hit album “She’s So Unusual,” her previous band called Blue Angel released an album that did not make any money. The band fired their manager, broke up and then sued by their ex-manager for breach of contract.

In 1980 Lauper had to file for bankruptcy and work in retail just to scrape by. Fortunately, she was soon just a girl having fun at the top of the charts and a huge pile of money.