Risky investments, fraud, tax evasion, investing in unsuccessful businesses – these are just a short list of reasons why world-famous money bags are left without billions of dollars.
There are less than 2,000 billionaires in the world – but together they have a fortune that can sometimes exceed the GDP of a small African country. However, the fact that these people have achieved such success does not mean that they are exempt from failure and lack of money.
For example, Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX and US cryptocurrency billionaire in 2022 He lost 94% of his fortune, which was estimated at $15.6 billion before the collapse.
Focus He decided to explain how and why some of the richest people lost all their wealth.
Robert Johnson – lost a billion due to divorce
Robert L. Johnson walked the classic American path from humble origins to unimaginable wealth. The ninth of ten children born to a working-class family in a small town in Illinois, he made a $15,000 loan to Black Entertainment Television (BET), one of cable television’s wealthiest franchises, in 1979. Thus, he sold the cable channel Black Entertainment Television (BET), which he founded in 2001, to Viacom Corporation, making history as America’s first black billionaire. According to Forbes, the deal earned him $1.2 billion.
However, he lost more than half of his fortune after filing for divorce a few years later.
Now Robert Johnson is not on the Forbes list of billionaires, but he still has a fortune. According to Forbes, Johnson’s personal wealth includes seven hotels that were recently purchased from Hilton for $95 million; restaurant in Orlando, Florida; and a minority stake in Vanguarde Media publishing house. Moreover, the businessman hopes to buy more hotels and get the rich man’s best toy: a professional sports franchise.
Masayoshi Son – impressed by the “balloon”
One of the richest people on the planet, the Japanese businessman had a fortune of $78 billion until he fell victim to the dot-com bubble in 2000. Recall that the dot-com bubble was a sharp decline in the value of shares of Internet companies and Internet startups. According to Forbes, shares of Sona SoftBank fell and the entrepreneur himself lost $59 billion, which is believed to be the largest loss of equity overnight. However, Son remains a billionaire with a current net worth of $13.3 billion as of mid-November.
Sanjeev Sidhu is India’s richest immigrant but no longer a billionaire
In 2001, an Indian-American businessman disposed of $9.8 billion, which he named “America’s richest Indian immigrant.”
Sidhu made his fortune after founding and managing a software company, i2 Technologies, in 1988. In 2000, the stock market value of the businessman’s firm rose 850%, but the following year, the company’s shares steadily declined.
Sanjeev Sidhu saved some of his fortune but lost most of it and is no longer listed as a billionaire by Forbes magazine after 2001.
Yasumitsu Shigeta – endured the crisis
Japanese businessman tech giant Hikari Tsushin, whose fortune is a whopping $42 billion according to Forbes, has lost most of his fortune during the crisis in the tech industry – $40 billion lost, according to Fortune. .
However, it seems that the business of Japanese entrepreneurs is not going so badly anymore. At least in 2022, Forbes estimates his fortune at $ 2.3 billion. Now the businessman is confidently developing the Hikari Tsushin mobile phone distribution company. He expanded the business into new areas including life insurance and stationery including copiers.
Sam Wylie is officially a “tax cheat”
Former billionaire Sam Wylie, a Dallas business tycoon, has made a fortune through investing in his restaurant business, retail and computer companies. Sam, along with his brother Charles, bought farms and mansions in Aspen and set up offshore funds that would pay them millions for the rest of their lives. According to Forbes, Sam Wiley’s net worth in 2010 was estimated at $1 billion.
Now the businessman is better known as a convicted tax fraudster. In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service implicated him and his now-deceased brother, Charles, in one of the largest tax evasion lawsuits in history, accusing him of using a tangled network of offshore trusts to cover up their stock sales. made hundreds of millions of illegal profits. Wylie was found guilty and received a massive $1.3 billion bill for past taxes, interest and penalties.
Eike Batista – removed from the list of billionaires
In 2013, Brazilian businessman Eike Batista had a fortune of $ 34.5 billion. Batista, once the richest man in Brazil, was stripped of his fortune within a year as most of his oil and gas assets began to depreciate and he found himself in debt that significantly exceeded the value of his oil and gas business. Unfortunately, Batista is no longer on Bloomberg’s list of billionaires.
Sean Quinn – once Ireland’s richest man, deeply in debt
In 2008, Sean had $6 billion and was considered the richest person in Ireland. In 2010, everything changed against the background of the collapse of the real estate market in Ireland. The businessman lost his entire fortune, but worse than that—he suddenly found himself in debt of nearly $3 billion, writes Fortune.
Anton Shleker – “pharmacy” millionaire
The German businessman, former owner of the Schlecker pharmacy chain, was a butcher’s apprentice before joining the pharmacy business. In 2011, his fortune was estimated at $3.1 billion, and the Schlecker pharmacies network consisted of approximately 13,000 branches across Europe.
The football fan and sports car enthusiast apparently owns Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsches and Jaguars. Its huge business empire lost competition against other market players and gradually lost its leadership position. As a result, in January 2012 Anton Schlecker declared bankruptcy.
Source: Riafan
I am Annabelle Sampson and I work for The News Dept as an author for their news department. My main focus is on economy news, but I also cover other topics such as business, finance, and current affairs. My writing has been featured in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine, and the Financial Times. I have a passion for learning more about economic trends and understanding how they affect businesses of all sizes. To stay up to date with the latest developments in the field of economics, I make sure to keep track of reliable sources like Bloomberg News or Reuters. In addition to my writing work, I often provide consultation services related to economic matters for clients both large and small.
