Painfully True Stories of Rich People Who Went Bust

When you’re living on a budget, it can be easy to view those with millions (or even billions) as having it easy. However, as these 14 riches to rags stories prove, it’s just as easy to go broke with 10 million in the bank as it is with only 10 dollars.

Moral of the story: Learn to live within your means, no matter how big or how small, and don’t forget to pay your taxes.

The original “poor little rich girl,” Barbara Hutton was the heiress to the massive Woolworth fortune, making her one of the richest people in the world. Proof that money really can’t buy happiness, Hutton struggled throughout her life with an eating disorder, addiction, and abusive relationships.

Her lavish lifestyle — she was famous for throwing “the party of the social season” at her compound in Tangier, Morocco — and terrible taste in romantic partners, contributed to her eventual financial troubles. Hutton married and divorced seven times, and only her marriage to actor Cary Grant did not result in Hutton providing a financial settlement.

At the time of her death, she was living in a suite at The Beverly Hills Hotel and is said to have had just a few thousand dollars to her name.

His glory days with The Rat Pack brought him fame and fortune, but Davis’s high-flying lifestyle left him with little more than a massive tax bill. Davis is said to have made in the neighborhood of $50 million over the course of his lifetime, but when he died he owed the IRS millions in unpaid taxes.

Eventually his collection of personal memorabilia was auctioned off, with all of the proceeds put towards the massive tax debt that his wife inherited upon his death.

An author and playwright, Oscar Wilde was a famous man-about-town who lived extravagantly and died penniless. Wilde’s penchant for design and fashion were well-known, and he traveled to the United States on a lecture tour about his theory of aesthetics, for which he was paid handsomely.

When Wilde was accused of being a homosexual, he sued his accuser for libel, but ended up simply landing himself in prison for the crime of “gross indecency.” Wilde lost his home and possessions upon his imprisonment, and he spent his final years in Paris living in a seedy hotel, where he died in debt.

One of the top-selling rap albums of all time, “Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em” brought musician MC Hammer unimaginable wealth. At the top of his fame, Hammer, aka Stanley Kirk Burrell, was estimated to be worth $33 million, but when his music career failed to produce another hit album, he was forced to file for bankruptcy.

Hammer’s lavish spending habits, including multiple expensive cars and a $30 million mansion, contributed to his financial downfall.