13 Celebs Who Have Gone Broke

We're probably not exactly raking in millions, so it's easy to imagine what we could do with such hearty income… and impossible to imagine letting all that cash slip away. Yet time and time again, we see celebrities rise to fame, make a ton of money, and then blow it all and end up more broke than when they started. Filing for bankruptcy is usually the only option. But then there are some celebs who filed before they even got famous, which just goes to show that pretty much anything can happen. Here are 13 stars who went broke at one point or another.

13 Donald Trump

In 1991, Donald Trump's Atlantic City Taj Mahal was billions of dollars in debt, so they filed for bankruptcy. He was allowed to keep the casino running while he reorganized his corporate debts. In 1992, the Trump Plaza also filed, and another one of the Trump casinos filed (but after he was no longer an owner). But that didn't necessarily slow him down. Just look where he is now (sigh).

12 MC Hammer

This is definitely one of the more well-known cases of a celeb going broke. He filed back in 1996 with $13 millions in debt. He blew some of his fortune on legal battles, but mostly spent pretty carelessly -- for example, he spent $500,000 a month on a staff of 200 and an entourage of 40. Yes, each month. After he filed for bankruptcy, he was forced to sell his $20 million home for way less. He made some career changes, becoming a minister and then a tech start-up consultant.

11 Michael Jackson

When Michael Jackson died in 2009, his estate was broke and he reportedly owed up to a reported $500 million. He spent a lot of money over the years. His Neverland ranch cost $14.6 million back in 1988, and at one point he bought ATV Music for $47.5 which included the copyrights to the Beatles songs which meant from there on out he got the royalties for them. After he paid $22 million to settle a lawsuit it is estimated that he spent a billion dollars over the next 20 years.

10 Gary Busey

In 2012, Gary Busey filed for bankruptcy for debts somewhere between $500,000 and one million. He was worth $50,000 at the time and reportedly owed money to IRS, the UCLA Medical Facility, and Wells Fargo, among others. His bankruptcy documents were made public along with his belongings, including 300 VHS tapes and 200 cassette tapes. As his rep explained at the time, "Gary Busey is following the example of many successful business people such as Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, Donald Trump, Francis Ford Coppola, Larry King, and many more Americans who have also utilized the tool of Bankruptcy to gain a fresh start. Remember, the Buseyism for FAILING is: Finding An Important Lesson Inviting Needed Growth."

9 Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds filed for bankruptcy in 1996 for $10 million, and has denied reports that he's gone broke again over the years when he's done stuff like auction off his belongings. He has defended his actions by saying he just wasn't looking at his money carefully.

8 Cyndi Lauper

The True Colors singer filed for bankruptcy in the '80s's before her career really got going. She was in the band Blue Angel and their album was a total flop, which was bad enough, but then their manager sued them for $80,000. Naturally, she didn't exactly have that kind of money. She filed and worked in retail until 1983 when her album She's So Unusual took off and made her a star.

7 Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003 for $23 million… even though he had made $400 million. He spent a ton of money on stuff he didn't need like houses, cars, jewelry, and partying. At his lower point, he owed millions to the IRS and the British tax authorities. He also owed child support and had a hefty divorce settlement to pay. He's pretty much a great example of what not to do when you too make $400 million dollars.

6 Gary Coleman

The Diff'rent Strokes actor was actually the highest paid child star of his time, but he claims that when he starred on that show, his adopted parents took most of his money. He had a whole bunch of medical bills to pay, too, which ultimately led to his death in 2010 at 42. He filed for bankruptcy back in 1999. At one point he said that he could “spread the blame” for his bankruptcy “from me to accountants to my adoptive parents, to agents to lawyers and back to me again.”

5 Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton has actually filed for bankruptcy twice, back in 1998 and then again in 2010. The first time was supposedly because she got super low royalties, and the second time around was because she was forced to cancel a Vegas show after finding out that she was sick. Toni's first recording contract netted $170 million in music sales, but she only got a check for $1,972. Ouch. In the music industry you basically borrow money from the label to do everything necessary to push the album. She has admitted that she bought a lot of girly things like plates.

4 Larry King

Larry King filed for bankruptcy in 1978 when he owed $352,000 in unpaid debts. That year wasn't all bad for him, however, since that was when he started his radio show. The rest is history -- that led to his CNN talk show that lasted for 25 years and made him tons of money. Larry King Live was at one point the station's longest-running program, and in 2016 he was estimated to be worth about $150 million.

3 Tom Petty

Tom Petty filed bankruptcy for a pretty unique reason: to get out of a record contract. In 1979, his record label was bought by a larger one and he wasn't into it, so he filed for bankruptcy which allowed him to get a better deal. In 2016, it was estimated that Tom was worth about $82 million, which put him in the number one spot on People With Money's top 10 highest-paid singers for 2016.

2 Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson has one of the strangest going broke tales of all time. After an investigation, he got a massive federal tax bill for around $16.7 million. It was negotiated down to $6 million but he couldn't pay that, either. The feds came to take everything from him that they possibly could. That wasn't enough money, though, so they worked out a deal: he could release am album called The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? and share the money with the IRS. That didn't do it, either, but he eventually paid off the debt. His career didn't exactly suffer. He has said, “There are more serious problems in life than financial ones, and I've had a lot of those. I've been broke before, and will be again.”

1 50 Cent

The rapper filed for bankruptcy last year after a slightly confusing case where the courts determined that he owed Rick Ross' baby mama $7 million because of a leaked sex tape. But here's the thing: 50 claimed his worth at $16 million, but it looks like his assets are actually close to $64 million, with damages of only $36 million. Not to mention the fact that he still makes about $184,000 a month. So, maybe he's not so broke after all. For some reason, he's also been posting photos of himself on Instagram with piles of cash since filing for bankruptcy, which is mostly just pissing off the court.