Bad Celebrity Investments That Make You Go Hmmm
Celebs and their cash are often parted. Here are some of the most memorably bad celebrity investments, ever.
Mark Twain investment
In the late 19th century, Mark Twain invested $150,000 to $300,000 on a machine known as the Paige Compositor for 11 years. That was a lot of money back then to throw into an investment. This famous author, known as the first modern celebrity in America by some, wanted this typesetter that was intended to be much faster than standard Linotype. The business perished pretty easily as the machine was hard to work with and had over 18,000 parts.
Not the very best with Jay-Z hotels
Another example of a very bad investment was when Jay-Z decided to put up a 15,000-square-foot luxury hotel in the Chelsea neighborhood in 2007. He got a $52 million loan, and ended up not being able to pay it when the economy crashed in 2008. He defaulted on the loan, and the lender got the land back. The construction as never finished. It wasn't until Dec. 2010 that the whole ordeal was over with out-of-court settlements.
Bono
The U2 front man is a managing director for the private media and entertainment equity firm Elevation Partners. After making a killing with investments in Yelp, Facebook and video game companies BioWare and Pandemic Studios, later investments in Palm ($460 million) and Forbes, Inc. ($300 million) turned into enormous losses. Ultimately, Elevation's return on those investments was only $25 million, which was enough to convince the website 24/7 Wall Street that Bono is "the worst investor in America."
Poor investment by Larry King
Talk show host King became embroiled in a life insurance scam that involved flipping policies for profit. King gave up two policies worth a total of $15 million, but only made back $1.4 million on the sale.
Kevin Bacon and many more
The Bernard Madoff $65 billion Ponzi scheme ended up stealing money from over 200 investors, many of which were celebs. A lot of people are attempting to make up for the financial loss now that Madoff is in jail serving 150 years for 11 federal felonies.
Poor investment from Burt Reynolds
The most popular movie star of the 1970s, Burt Reynolds wound up handling the urge many celebrities face: opening a restaurant chain. The chain was PoFolks, and outlets existed in California, Texas and Florida. By the late 1980s, however, the cupboard was bare and Reynolds was out $15 million. His eventual divorce from Loni Anderson and diminished star power led to a 1996 bankruptcy. Even though he was more than $10 million in debt, bankruptcy court allowed him to keep his $2.5 million mansion and all of his personal property that Anderson hadn't already claimed.
The last poor investment
Classic Hollywood movie star and Las Vegas fixture Debbie Reynolds purchased a Vegas casino in 1991. She christened it the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino but neglected to anticipate just how much trouble the accommodation would have maintaining business because it was located off the strip. A 1997 bankruptcy and sale of the hotel to the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 for $10 million left Reynolds broke and heartbroken. She would experience such grief again in 2010 when her memorabilia museum also went bankrupt, forcing her to sell off the trappings of her movie career.
Mark Twain investment
In the late 19th century, Mark Twain invested $150,000 to $300,000 on a machine known as the Paige Compositor for 11 years. That was a lot of money back then to throw into an investment. This famous author, known as the first modern celebrity in America by some, wanted this typesetter that was intended to be much faster than standard Linotype. The business perished pretty easily as the machine was hard to work with and had over 18,000 parts.
Not the very best with Jay-Z hotels
Another example of a very bad investment was when Jay-Z decided to put up a 15,000-square-foot luxury hotel in the Chelsea neighborhood in 2007. He got a $52 million loan, and ended up not being able to pay it when the economy crashed in 2008. He defaulted on the loan, and the lender got the land back. The construction as never finished. It wasn't until Dec. 2010 that the whole ordeal was over with out-of-court settlements.
Bono
The U2 front man is a managing director for the private media and entertainment equity firm Elevation Partners. After making a killing with investments in Yelp, Facebook and video game companies BioWare and Pandemic Studios, later investments in Palm ($460 million) and Forbes, Inc. ($300 million) turned into enormous losses. Ultimately, Elevation's return on those investments was only $25 million, which was enough to convince the website 24/7 Wall Street that Bono is "the worst investor in America."
Poor investment by Larry King
Talk show host King became embroiled in a life insurance scam that involved flipping policies for profit. King gave up two policies worth a total of $15 million, but only made back $1.4 million on the sale.
Kevin Bacon and many more
The Bernard Madoff $65 billion Ponzi scheme ended up stealing money from over 200 investors, many of which were celebs. A lot of people are attempting to make up for the financial loss now that Madoff is in jail serving 150 years for 11 federal felonies.
Poor investment from Burt Reynolds
The most popular movie star of the 1970s, Burt Reynolds wound up handling the urge many celebrities face: opening a restaurant chain. The chain was PoFolks, and outlets existed in California, Texas and Florida. By the late 1980s, however, the cupboard was bare and Reynolds was out $15 million. His eventual divorce from Loni Anderson and diminished star power led to a 1996 bankruptcy. Even though he was more than $10 million in debt, bankruptcy court allowed him to keep his $2.5 million mansion and all of his personal property that Anderson hadn't already claimed.
The last poor investment
Classic Hollywood movie star and Las Vegas fixture Debbie Reynolds purchased a Vegas casino in 1991. She christened it the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino but neglected to anticipate just how much trouble the accommodation would have maintaining business because it was located off the strip. A 1997 bankruptcy and sale of the hotel to the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 for $10 million left Reynolds broke and heartbroken. She would experience such grief again in 2010 when her memorabilia museum also went bankrupt, forcing her to sell off the trappings of her movie career.
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