30 Celebs Who Made and Lost a Ton of Money
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Celebrities are just like us. They’re human after all. They like to live way outside their means even though their bank accounts are already hefty.
It’s hard to believe that it’s possible to blow through millions of dollars. But each person on this list did just that. The people who lost fortunes span ages, races, genders and careers. There are athletes, actors, musicians and even a reality TV star.
Here are 30 celebrities who lost almost all of their money. Let’s just say it's a cautionary tale to pay your taxes, not get divorced and wise up on extravagant purchases.
30. Meat Loaf
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: $40 million
Money lost: Unknown (but a lot)
* The current net worth numbers are courtesy of the latest reports on Celebrity Net Worth.
Bottom Line: Meat Loaf
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Marvin Lee Aday became one of the most successful musicians, but he actually struggled financially in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Meat Loaf had to file for bankruptcy after musical associate Jim Steinman sued him for $80 million.
He had his royalties garnished so his creditors could recoup the money owed, but this story has a happy ending, as Loaf and Steinman made up and even created music together in the 1990s. We can’t say the same for a lot of the other stars on this list.
28. David Cassidy (Tie)
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Claim to fame: Actor/musician
Net worth at time of death: $500,000
Money lost: $4.5 million
Bottom Line: David Cassidy
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The “Partridge Family” star quietly squandered almost his entire fortune as his son Beau initially received just $150,000 from his father’s estate when David passed away in 2017.
Beau received more thanks to life insurance and David’s retirement fund.
28. Gary Busey (Tie)
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Claim to fame: Actor
Current net worth: $500,000
Money lost: $4.5 million
Bottom Line: Gary Busey
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Busey has struggled with finances since he sustained a skull fracture and brain damage due to a serious motorcycle accident.
He’s since battled addiction and even filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 2012, despite still making time to act.
27. Lena Headey
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Claim to fame: Actress
Current net worth: $12 million
Money lost: $5 million
Bottom Line: Lena Headey
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In 2013 Headey reportedly lost almost all of her fortune due to a bitter and drawn-out divorce to ex-husband Peter Loughran.
Fortunately, the “Game of Thrones” star had time to recoup her losses thanks to her appearance in the final five seasons of the hit HBO drama.
26. Pamela Anderson
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Claim to fame: Actress/model
Current net worth: $20 million
Money lost: $7 million
Bottom Line: Pamela Anderson
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Anderson, like many on this list, lost much of her money by failing to pay taxes (come on people!). The IRS placed liens on her home, and according to Celebrity Net Worth, she and her ex-boyfriend Jon Peters broke up because she was in debt.
However, she recently sold her home in Malibu, California, which should alleviate some of her financial woes.
25. Teresa Giudice
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Claim to fame: Reality TV star
Current net worth: $500,000
Money lost: $11 million
Bottom Line: Teresa Giudice
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The “Real Housewives” star and her husband filed for bankruptcy in 2009, then were forced to pay fines and even serve prison time after she was found guilty of fraud in 2013.
She has since returned to the show to recoup some of her lost income, but she and Joe divorced after he was deported due to the felony conviction.
24. Sinbad
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Claim to fame: Comedian/actor
Current net worth: $4 million
Money lost: $11 million
Bottom Line: Sinbad
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The comedian is yet another one in which not paying taxes and a lavish lifestyle saw him more than $10 million in debt.
He has twice filed for bankruptcy protection and, unfortunately, has not worked in film or TV since 2019. He has sold his home to help clear debt.
23. Mickey Rooney
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Claim to fame: Actor
Net worth at time of death: $18,000
Money lost: $12 million
Bottom Line: Mickey Rooney
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Rooney was once the highest-paid actor in show business, yet when he passed away in 2014, his estate was worth just $18,000.
Rooney had gone bankrupt, battled addiction and had seven wives, which is where most of his fortune went.
22. Marvin Gaye
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Claim to fame: Musician
Net worth at time of death: -$9 million
Money lost: $14 million
Bottom Line: Marvin Gaye
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Gaye died in debt to the tune of $9 million thanks to back taxes owed to the IRS.
He sold his musical library to alleviate some of the debt, and the IRS was garnishing all of his earnings before he was killed by his father in an argument in 1984.
21. Willie Nelson
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: $25 million
Money lost: $17 million
Bottom Line: Willie Nelson
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Nelson had issues paying taxes and squandered millions on bad investments in the cattle industry in the 1980s. The IRS claimed he owed more than $32 million, which led to his album “The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memoirs,” which he used royalties from to pay back his debt.
Nelson has since stayed on the right side of the government while recording and appearing in TV and movies.
20. Gary Coleman
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Claim to fame: Actor
Net worth at time of death: $75,000
Money lost: $18 million
Bottom Line: Gary Coleman
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Coleman was one of the richest actors in Hollywood during the height of his tenure on “Diff'rent Strokes,” yet he lost it in a variety of ways, including medical procedures and various family and business associates misappropriating his money.
When he passed away in 2010, Coleman was worth less than $100,000.
19. Wayne Newton
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: $50 million
Money lost: $20 million
Bottom Line: Wayne Newton
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Newton has had one of the most successful residencies in Las Vegas for years but has battled financial woes in the meantime. He declared bankruptcy in 1992 after a costly lawsuit against NBC for libel, then lost more due to back taxes owed from an IRS lawsuit in 2005.
Newton has since recovered.
18. Kim Basinger
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Claim to fame: Actress
Current net worth: $20 million
Money lost: $20 million
Bottom Line: Kim Basinger
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Basinger lost nearly her entire fortune when she purchased a town in Georgia that she’d tried to make into a tourist attraction in 1989. That didn’t go anywhere, and she took a massive loss by selling off plots of the land.
She also lost about $3 million to a court settlement after she pulled out of the lead role in the mid-1990s indie movie “Boxing Helena.”
17. Tori Spelling
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Claim to fame: Actress
Current net worth: $1.5 million
Money lost: $20 million
Bottom Line: Tori Spelling
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Spelling, famous for her role as Donna Martin on both “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place” squandered all of her accrued wealth by lavish purchases, including failed real estate investments.
Spelling’s father Aaron, the famed TV and movie producer, only left $800,000 to her in his will though she will inherit what’s left of his fortune when her mom dies.
16. Brendan Fraser
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Claim to fame: Actor
Current net worth: $20 million
Money lost: $25 million
Bottom Line: Brendan Fraser
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Fraser is known for acting in a series of goofy 1990s comedy films, yet his bank account took a serious hit thanks to his 2008 divorce from wife Afton Smith. Fraser was on the hook for more than $200,000 per month in alimony payments and lost more due to health woes attributed to stunts he did during his acting.
Fraser also claimed that going public with sexual assault allegations against former Hollywood Foreign Press president Phillip Berk damaged his career.
15. Dennis Rodman
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Claim to fame: Basketball player
Current net worth: $500,000
Money lost: $26.5 million
Bottom Line: Dennis Rodman
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The former NBA bad boy battled addiction, going to multiple rehab centers in his post-basketball life.
He also lived large with piercings, tattoos and high fashion and was married and divorced three times, struggling to pay child support and alimony.
14. Lindsay Lohan
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Claim to fame: Actress
Current net worth: $800,000
Money lost: $27 million
Bottom Line: Lindsay Lohan
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Lohan’s financial woes mostly were self-inflicted, as she was saddled with multiple trips to rehab and legal fees, plus wage-garnishment when she owed the IRS back taxes in the early-2010s.
She nearly was forced to claim bankruptcy and holds one of the lowest net worths of any current celebrity.
13. Wesley Snipes
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Claim to fame: Actor
Current net worth: $10 million
Money lost: $28 million
Bottom Line: Wesley Snipes
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Snipes spent three years in prison and had to pay $17 million in back taxes after filing false returns for five years between 1999 and 2004.
He has since boosted his financial status by acting post-prison, including a role in “Coming 2 America,” a 2021 sequel of his hit 1988 comedy that stars Eddie Murphy.
12. Courtney Love
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: $100 million
Money lost: $30 million
Bottom Line: Courtney Love
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Love was famously married to Kurt Cobain and was the heir to the Nirvana music library, yet lost almost $30 million of “Nirvana money,” according to Business Insider.
The former lead singer of Hole did so mostly by settling lawsuits with former band members since they felt screwed out of the fortune. Needless to say, Love seems to be doing fine given her current net worth.
11. T-Pain
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: $10 million
Money lost: $40 million
Bottom Line: T-Pain
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The rapper reportedly squandered more than $40 million on bad investments and lavish spending and admitted he “had to borrow money to buy my kids Burger King.”
Faheem Najm has since recouped about $10 million, his current net worth, and claims he is not interested in chasing the money he lost and wants to be there for his family.
10. Burt Reynolds
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Claim to fame: Actor
Net worth at time of death: $3 million
Money lost: $57 million
Bottom Line: Burt Reynolds
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Reynolds made more than $60 million during his acting career, yet lost it in a string of bad investments. About half was lost when Reynolds tried to invest in restaurants that went belly-up quite quickly.
He later declared Chapter 11 after CBS sued him for $4 million, which they loaned him in 1990. Reynolds passed away in 2018 with just $3 million in his estate.
9. Toni Braxton
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: $10 million
Money lost: $60 million
Bottom Line: Toni Braxton
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Braxton’s money loss is a bit hard to quantify, though she has lost significant royalty opportunities due to two separate bankruptcy filings. Braxton squandered her wealth on clothes, jewelry, hair products and makeup reportedly to the tune of $2.5 million over two years.
Fortunately, a judge wiped nearly all her debt clean in 2014, and she’s once again earning thanks to her reality TV show “Braxton Family Values.”
8. Larry King
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Claim to fame: Talk show host
Net worth at time of death: $50 million
Money lost: $150 million
Bottom Line: Larry King
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King was a chronic womanizer who was notoriously bad with money. He married eight times to seven different women and was charged with grand larceny for stealing $5,000 from a business associate in 1971.
He had also filed for bankruptcy and squandered a $150 million estate, leaving only $50 million to his five kids when he died on Jan. 23, 2021.
7. Nicolas Cage
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Claim to fame: Actor
Current net worth: $25 million
Money lost: $200 million
Bottom Line: Nicolas Cage
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Cage made a fortune acting in high-profile films, but he squandered it just as quickly. He purchased more than a dozen homes, multiple yachts, cars and even a $7 million island.
What he didn’t pay was taxes, as the IRS placed a lien on his New Orleans home, and Cage is still paying down debt to creditors as of 2021.
6. 50 Cent
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: $40 million
Money lost: $220 million
Bottom Line: 50 Cent
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Curtis Jackson purchased Mike Tyson’s old mansion in Farmington, Connecticut, and somehow Tyson’s financial woes also followed 50 Cent through the house.
Jackson was forced to file for Chapter 11 in 2015 as a strategic maneuver that enabled him to pay off creditors.
5. Mike Tyson
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Claim to fame: Boxer/actor/reality star
Current net worth: $10 million
Money lost: $300 million
Bottom Line: Mike Tyson
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Tyson made an insane amount of money as one of the most feared boxers of his day, yet due to mismanagement of money and a rape conviction that led to time spent in prison, Tyson lost almost all of his wealth.
He’s still in the process of recouping it, mostly by acting.
4. Lisa Marie Presley
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Claim to fame: Musician
Current net worth: -$16 million
Money lost: $300 million
Bottom Line: Lisa Marie Presley
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Presley was left almost the entire estate of her rockstar dad when Elvis passed away in 1977.
However, a mix of taxes — which her father neglected paying — and shady associates led to Lisa Marie’s net worth plummeting to the point where she is more than $16 million in debt despite her own modest country music career.
3. Johnny Depp
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Claim to fame: Actor
Current net worth: $150 million
Money lost: $600 million
Bottom Line: Johnny Depp
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Depp’s wealth rose precipitously thanks to earnings made from his days playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise.
However, it shrunk after business managers were stealing from him.
2. Floyd Mayweather
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Claim to fame: Boxer
Current net worth: $450 million
Money lost: $1 billion
Bottom Line: Floyd Mayweather
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Mayweather is the highest-earning athlete in the world, yet has watched his wealth take a nosedive because of jewelry purchases and insane betting habits.
Mayweather came out of retirement to fight Logan Paul in 2021, reportedly because he was running out of money, and if he continues to fight, it’s mostly to recoup lost earnings.
1. Michael Jackson
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Claim to fame: Musician
Net worth at time of death: $500 million
Money lost: $1 billion
Bottom Line: Michael Jackson
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Jackson’s estate has since recouped millions from not only ownership of his music catalog but also the catalog of other musician’s music that he owned. Despite, these assets, the King of Pop was reportedly $500 million in debt when he passed away in 2009.
Jackson mostly lost his money through extravagant purchases, including animals, cars and most notably keeping up his Neverland Ranch.