
Riches to rags? But celebrities live famous and affluent lives. Living in mansions, driving lovely cars and generally living the life right? Yes, but at the end of the day, they are still humans and they are not immune to having money issues.
We have seen and heard inspiring stories of people who rose from nothing to something. At the same time, there are cases where celebrities have gone from their financial grace to grass due to bad handling of their finances.
Below are 12 of some celebrities who have gone from being millionaires to declaring bankruptcy. While some of them have been able to come out of that, others have not done so well.
1. Nicolas Cage

Cage was one of Hollywood’s best-paid actors. He purchased several homes all over the world. Had rare artifacts, automobiles and many more. However, beginning in 2009, it was reported that he owed federal tax up to the tune of $6.2 million for the year 2007.
Cage responded by suing his then business manager for the mismanagement of his money but he still had to sell several of his properties and belongings.
AS of 2017, Cage’s net worth was said to be around $25 million. A far cry from his $150 million fortune he had.
2. Mike Tyson

Tyson had a successful career in boxing and made over $400 million along the way. Unfortunately, the former heavyweight champion frittered most of this away. He bought and spent millions on Bengal tigers, jewelry, bathtubs, etc. He also had to pay for a divorce settlement to the tune of $9 million while he was failing in child support.
As of 2003, he was in debt to the IRS lawyers, his financial manager, personal trainer and several others including the British tax authorities. He declared bankruptcy, went to jail before going through rehab. Fortunately, he is back on his feet as he is now rich again.
He started a cannabis company in 2018 and also has a career in film.
3. MC Hammer

As of 1990, MC Hammer was estimated to be worth $33 million but just 6 years later, he was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He spent more than $20 million on remodeling a mansion he bought at $1 million, had 200 staff and built a stable for his 19 racehorses.
He spent lavishly and there were several lawsuits followed leading him to declare bankruptcy with a debt of $13 million.
He launched WrieDoo a search engine in 2011 and said he was loosely involved in some tech companies in Silicon Valley. As of 2021 he was estimated to have a net worth of just $2 million.
4. Kim Basinger

As of 1989, Kim Basinger was buying the town of Braselton in Georgia for 20 million. The expectation was to make it a tourist attraction with movie studios coupled with a film festival which was great huh? Family rifts and issues crept in and affected the enterprise. In addition to this, she was sued by the film studio; Main Line Pictures for pulling out of the movie “Boxing Helena” and an $8.9 million judgment was given against her.
Basinger filed for bankruptcy and was able to avoid paying the initial amount against her by appealing the judgment. She and Main Line settled for a payment of $3.8 million. She also had to sell the Georgia property.
Basinger has continued to act in movies and despite the fall, she has managed to grow her net worth to about $20 million according to celebritynetworth.com.
5. Marvin Gaye

Who could forget Marvin Gaye’s famous voice and songs? With fame came the money but divorce and alimony had a profound effect on his finances.
After divorcing his wife Anna Gaye and been behind in his alimony payments, he filed for bankruptcy in 1976. Instead of the alimony, he agreed to pay Anna $600,000 from royalties on his new album “Here my dear” after a judge ruled so.
44-year-old Gaye was killed by his father in 1984 and he was still owing Anna almost $300,000 in alimony payments.
6. Willie Nelson

Nelson, a country music writer and singer, was avoiding taxes as of 1990. The IRS came after him and billed him $16.7 million including the tax, the interest accrued, and the penalty for non-payment. Although his attorney was able to negotiate the bill to $6 million, Nelson still could not meet up with the payments.
His assets were seized in the process to help offset some of this. This included about 20 properties as well as his instruments and collection of music.
To offset the bill, Nelson recorded a song “The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories” and his fans organized fundraisers so that he can settle his debts. In this way, he paid off his debt to the IRS.
As of today, Nelson is old but still records music. He thankfully is one of those who has managed to claw his way back, building up his net worth to about $25 million.
7. Toni Braxton

In an interview with ABC’s “20/20” in 2012, Toni Braxton spoke up about her financial struggles. She revealed that she filed for bankruptcy in 1998. This was due to poor record contract payments, medical bills as well as poor spending.
Again in 2008, she filed for bankruptcy. This time because of bad health, she canceled a series of shows in Las Vegas.
Toni stars in a reality TV show; WE TV’s Braxton Family Values which she co-owns. She has also starred in other movies. In 2019, she announced and went on a tour to support her album “Sex and Cigarettes”.
8. David Cassidy

Despite a successful career in which he sold well over 25 million records, Cassidy in 2015 filed for bankruptcy in Florida.
He had a series of health issues as well as several DUIs which eventually led his wife Sue to file for divorce. To finance the divorce, his mansion was put up for an auction giving the Associated Press a tour of the mansion in the process.
After passing away in 2017, a year later, in 2018, it was discovered that he lied about his health issues through a voice recording. He lied about having dementia when in truth, his issues were alcohol related.
9. Burt Reynolds

Reynolds spent a lot on a private jet, real estate, horses as well as $100,000 worth of toupees in the 1980s. He also had quite an expensive marriage with Loni Anderson and with that experienced an expensive divorce years later.
With a diminishing income, Reynolds could not keep up with his lifestyle and costs. He faced the foreclosure his his home in Florida. He was not able to pay back a loan of $3.7 million from CBS and after accruing over $10 million in debts, he filed for bankruptcy in 1996.
In 1997, he acted in Boogie Nights a movie he received plenty of accolades for and he kept acting till he passed away in 2018.
He told Vanity Fair in 2015, “I have lost more money than is possible because I just haven’t watched it”.
10. Michael Jackson

M.J as he was fondly called was the undisputed king of pop but that did not shield him from experiencing financial troubles.
His famous home – Neverland was almost foreclosed on. He took out several loans that were not paid back. Expensive lawsuits didn’t help his matter alongside interest payments on his various loans which led him deep in debts.
It was estimated that at death, Jackson had a debt which was $400 to $500 million. Fortunately, his financial issues have been resolved by his estate and he remains the highest-earning celebrity in death.
11. Dennis Rodman

A great basket in his time. Rodman was a teammate to basketball great Michael Jordan when they played together for the Chicago Bulls. During his career, he played for teams like the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Maverick before playing in Europe.
He later became an eccentric celebrity and was known for his marriage to Carmen Electra which did not last. He also was an unofficial ambassador of the US to North Korea.
As of 2012, Rodman owed over $800,000 in child support. His lawyers revealed he could not afford living expenses let alone pay child support and that he was sick and broke.
Rodman was recently accused of theft. He was said to have stolen a 400-pound amethyst crystal and more than $500 worth of clothes. He has denied wrongdoing saying they were given to him as gifts.
12. Brett Butler

Bret Butler the “Grace Under Fire” star has revealed she lives in a homeless shelter despite having a successful career in acting. Her financial issues stem from substance abuse and addictions. Over the years, she had battled drug addiction, spending a lot of time in rehab in the process. At one time, she was kicked off a show due to her erratic behavior from her addictions.
Now she does standup comedy hoping to make people laugh, earn some money and maybe make a comeback.