Three Famous People and Their Bankruptcy Stories

Many bankruptcy stories are inspiring tales of perseverance in the face of extreme financial difficulty. Others are don’t-let-this-happen-to-you cautionary tales. Both types of stories have important lessons for distressed Indiana debtors. These stories also emphasize the fact that, more than anything, bankruptcy is a fresh start. What you do with that fresh start is usually up to you.

That being said, a Chicago bankruptcy lawyer does more than help you get a fresh start. An attorney also helps you maximize that fresh start. Lawyers know about legal loopholes which expand bankruptcy’s property exemption and debt discharge function. Furthermore, a lawyer gives you the tools you need to quickly raise your credit score.

Dave Ramsey

The financial guru, who filed bankruptcy before he achieved this status, reinvented himself to maximize his fresh start.

As a young man, Ramsey made millions by investing in real estate rental properties. He borrowed money from investors to buy these properties. That approach worked really well as long as the property produced income. But when a slump came along, nervous investors demanded repayment. Ramsey simply didn’t have the money.

To recover from bankruptcy, Ramsey attended financial seminars. Then, he started leading these seminars. This experience resulted in a 1992 book, which he parlayed into a syndicated radio program which reaches over eight million listeners.

Burt Reynolds

The actor largely blamed other people for his financial problems, and as a result, he never really recovered from them.

Reynolds had a brief run in the late 70s and early 80s as the number one box office draw in the world. Although this status didn’t last, Reynolds still spent lavishly. As a result, when CBS sued him in the mid 1990s, he could not deal with it, from a financial standpoint. He blamed the studio for his 1996 bankruptcy filing.

Unfortunately, Reynolds did not change his ways. In the early 2010s, the aging Reynolds had major IRS problems, which led to several property foreclosures. When he died in 2018, Reynolds was almost completely broke.

M.C. Hammer

The 1990s entertainer famous for his parachute pants is a middle-of-the-road bankruptcy story. He didn’t fully recover, but he didn’t fall off a cliff either.

By the early 1990s, Hammer’s fortune exceeded $33 million. Unfortunately, he spent most of this money on support payments to relatives and hangers-on as well as luxury items for himself. In 1996, Hammer filed bankruptcy, citing $13 million in debts. It takes a special person to spend roughly $46 million in less than five years.

Today, Hammer’s net worth is said to be about $1.5 million. That’s only a fraction of what he had during his heyday. But he’s successfully avoided the financial pitfalls which caused his financial problems.

P.T. Barnum

A recent movie, The Greatest Showman, put Barnum back into the spotlight where he spent so much of his life. Even though that life threw him some curveballs, to say the least, he exemplified perseverance in the face of financial difficulty.

His first show business experience was shaky, to say the least. Barnum bought and expanded New York City’s Scudder’s American Museum. But the building burned down several times, forcing Barnum into bankruptcy.

To recover financially, Barnum hit the road, lecturing on “The Art of Money Giving,” a subject he was intimately familiar with. Most likely, a showman like Barnum did not particularly like the lecture circuit. But he did what he had to do in order to make his dream, the three-ring circus, a reality. 

Connect with Diligent Lawyers

A good lawyer helps you maximize your fresh start. For a free consultation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Chicago, contact the Bentz Holguin Law Firm, LLC. Convenient payment plans are available.

Resource:

law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/05-996P.ZO