September 28, 2011 – 5:40 pm
Broke professional sports stars are nothing new, but ever wonder why athletes — with their outsize salaries — seem so much more prone to bankruptcy than Average Joes? The New York Times took a shot at answering that question in a recent “Your Money” column by interviewing Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young: Steve Young has [...]
August 26, 2011 – 9:33 am
In our popular Celebrity Financial Mistakes feature, we pointed out Burt Reynolds’s inglorious fiscal past, declaring bankruptcy once before: After a red-hot career in the 1970s, Burt Reynolds bought himself a helicopter, multiple vacation homes, and a sprawling Florida ranch, but his divorce from actress Loni Anderson left him broke (though he got to keep the [...]
News has broken that there will be a 2011 pro football season after all (woohoo!). Under the deal, veteran NFL players will still be paid millions for doing what they do best. However, the ability to earn an outsize paycheck doesn’t mean that all NFL stars are financially secure. The Wall Street Journal reports this [...]
R. Kelly is in trouble again, although at least this time it’s not a big-time felony mess. The Associated Press reports that he hasn’t made a mortgage payment on his Chicago mansion since June 2010, leading JP Morgan Chase to initiate foreclosure proceedings against the R&B singer: Crain’s reports the Olympia Field home’s appraised value fell [...]
Actress and dancer Debbie Reynolds, who’s perhaps best known for starring in Singin’ in the Rain, spent much of her career collecting an estimated 3,500 costumes and thousands more props to create a museum of Hollywood memorabilia. Unfortunately, sinking so much money into her hobby landed her in more than $4 million worth of debt, [...]
The Real Housewives reality-television franchise has spawned more bankruptcy filings than pro sports and celebrity accountant Kenneth Starr combined. We wondered why, so we reviewed the most notorious examples of the “real housewives” living beyond their means. Teresa Giudice is one of the most combative Real Housewives of New Jersey, and with this group, that’s [...]
Last October, R&B singer Toni Braxton filed for bankruptcy — for the second time in 12 years. The court determined she owed her creditors — among them Tiffany & Co., Neiman Marcus, and the Four Seasons — between $10 million and $50 million in unpaid debts. Now Braxton has a reality television show ready to [...]
Here at Econ4U, when I catch a celebrity screwing up in a major financial way, I recap the story in our Famous Financial Flubs section. Not because I’m gleeful at someone else’s misfortune, but because it can serve as a valuable lesson for everyday people and help everyone handle their money better. However, WalletPop columnist [...]
February 22, 2011 – 5:34 pm
Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria has filed a Chapter 11 petition in bankruptcy court on behalf of the restaurant and nightclub she owns in Las Vegas. Beso and its upstairs nightclub Eve opened in the CityCenter at the MGM Resort in December 2009, but a little more than a year later, the property lists $2.5 [...]
February 1, 2011 – 1:05 pm
Just when you think playing for the NBA couldn’t get any better between the insane paychecks and adoring fans, here’s a new perk: If you’re a big enough star, your employer will even pay your way out of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. That’s what former Miami Heat point guard Tim Hardaway found out [...]
