Celebrities Who Got Rich Too Fast and Ended Up Losing Their Homes

Shannon Quinn - October 12, 2022

Photo: Credit: NY Post

Pretty much everyone wishes that they could be rich and famous. However, it’s actually very common that when people suddenly get a windfall of money too quickly, they end up losing everything. Even if they seek guidance from a financial professional, that’s no guarantee that their massive fortunes can handle their spending habits. Here at Home Addict, we’ve pulled together some stories of celebrities who got rich too fast, and ended up losing their homes.

Mike Tyson

Professional boxer, Mike Tyson, is considered to be one of the greatest fighters in the world. He quickly grew a fortune for his athletic career, but he was also living an incredibly lavish lifestyle. According to Forbes, Mike Tyson may have been worth as much as $685 million at one time. Other sources indicate it was “only” $300 million. Either way, it’s a massive amount of money. But by 2003, he had accrued nearly $23 million in debt, and didn’t have any way to pay it back. So he had to declare bankruptcy.

Mike Tyson had to sell his 52-room mansion in Connecticut for $4.4 million. Inside the home, there were two pools, and its own nightclub. He actually sold the home to rapper, 50 Cent, who continued on the legacy of throwing amazing celebrity parties there. However, 50 Cent quickly grew tired of the property, saying that it cost $61,000 a month to run the place. He tried listing the property for $18.8 million, and eventually had to take a huge loss by selling it for $3.1 million. Today, Mike Tyson’s net worth is estimated to be a more “modest” $10 million. (via The Sun)

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Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is famous for his financial program “Ramsey Solutions”. He hosts a radio and YouTube talk show, and has authored several books on how to help people get out of debt. This all started because when he was 26, he owned millions of dollars in real estate. The only issue is that he got into a tremendous amount of debt to buy the real estate in the first place. When the banks called back their loans, it all came crashing down. Dave had to declare bankruptcy. He lost all of his real estate, and he had to figure out how to take care of his young family in the process.

There was a silver lining to Dave Ramsey’s failure. People from his church heard about his failure, and yet he still seemed to be doing fine. So people with debt problems started to approach him, asking for advice. He started to charge consultation fees, and began giving advice to people on debt and bankruptcy. Over time, he started a radio show and eventually grew the financial empire he has today. And of course, he now has new real estate investments that he acquired in a much more stable way. According to Investopedia, Dave Ramsey’s current net worth is $200 million. (via Ramsey Solutions)

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Michael Vick

Michael Vick was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He played for 13 seasons in the NFL, and became one of the highest paid athletes in the industry. However, he got in over his head with spending his earnings. On top of that, he was caught running a dog fighting operation in Virginia in 2007. He pleaded guilty, and was forced to spend 23 months in jail. During this time, he obviously couldn’t work. Michael Vick had to sell his mansion in Georgia for $3.2 million, which was a half million less than what he paid for it. The house in Virginia that was used for dogfighting was listed for $1.1 million in 2008, while he was behind bars.

After serving his time in jail, Michael Vick returned to the NFL in 2009. He continued to play football until 2017. In 2020, he sold yet another mansion, this time a property in South Florida, which went up for $2.4 million. Today, Vick has an estimated net worth of $15 million. This would be enough for some people to retire, but he continues to want to work. In 2022, he started a new career in athletic management with a company called Levels Sports Group. (via ESPN)

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Lindsay Lohan

We all know Lindsay Lohan as the child actress who grew up in the limelight. She made $28 million from her movies, which should have been enough to make her comfortable for the rest of her life. However, Lindsay has been in the news over her drug addiction, among other scandals. As time went on, her “party girl” reputation hurt her career, and producers started to pay her less and less. She was very close to bankruptcy in 2011, which is why she agreed to do a nude photoshoot for Playboy for $1 million. However, the money didn’t last long. In 2012, the IRS seized control of her accounts, because she owed $233,000 in back-taxes.

In 2016, it was reported by the Economic Times that Lindsay Lohan had not paid her rent for her $4.2 million London apartment, and she owed a whopping $95,000 to her landlord. She was forced to vacate the home. On top of that, her mother, Dina Lohan, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in an attempt to stop her house in Long Island, New York from being auctioned off. It’s reported that her net worth has dwindled down to just $1.5 million. Thankfully, Lindsay seems to be doing much better, and is making a comeback. She is set to star in a 2022 Netflix movie called “Falling For Christmas”. Lindsay also married a multi-millionaire named Bader Shammas. (via Economic Times)

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Allen Iverson

Basketball star, Allen Iverson, earned more than $154 million during his 14-year-long NBA career. This should be enough to set up anyone for life, but he decided to live a lavish lifestyle instead. He went into foreclosure not just once, but twice. Iverson originally bought his mansion in Atlanta, Georgia for $4.5 million, and there was $1.2 million left on his mortgage when it went into foreclosure. The bank purchased the property for just $2.5 million. He also lost a home in Villanova, Pennsylvania that he tried to sell for over $6 million, but it went for just $2.6 million.

His properties weren’t the end of Iverson’s money woes. A judge also ordered that he needed to pay back a six-figure jewelry bill. He was also ordered to pay $3 million to his ex-wife in their divorce settlement. However, Allen Iverson isn’t “broke”. He has $32 million dollars away in a trust fund that he can’t touch until he turns 55, and it pays out $1 million per year. And once he turns 45, he can start receiving his NBA pension which will pay him $8,000 a month. The only problem is that he spends his money as quickly as he gets it. (via Yahoo Sports)

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Kate Gosselin

Many of you might remember Kate Gosselin from the TLC series “Jon and Kate Plus 8”. The show aired on TV from 2007-2009, and her family became incredibly popular even to the point where SNL parodied her. The show ended because John and Kate got a divorce, and they were in a custody battle over their children. Kate went ahead and started another series called “Kate Plus 8” from 2010-2017. During her heyday, she made $250,000 per episode, but it dwindled down to $40,000 on Kate Plus 8. She also appeared on shows like Celebrity Apprentice and Dancing With the Stars, which paid her $500,000 for her appearance.

But now, Kate’s TV career seems to be over. According to multiple sources, Kate Gosselin’s net worth has gone down to just $500,000. She was forced to sell her mansion in Pennsylvania for $1.1 million in 2021. After selling the home, she bought a cheaper lake house in North Carolina for $750,000. Now that the TV series is over and her kids are going off to college, there is not much left for Kate to profit off of. She was formerly a nurse before she became famous, so she re-applied for her North Carolina nursing license in 2021. Now, in 2022, she is in the news again, because Jon Gosselin says that she stole $100,000 from her kid’s trust fund back in 2019. Kate claims that she needed that money to “survive” and support the kids. (via In Touch Weekly)

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Stephen Baldwin

Now, Stephen Baldwin may not be an A-list celebrity, but you are more likely to know his older brother, Alec Baldwin. Stephen starred in “Unusual Suspects” and “The Flinstones”, but his acting career never took off in a big way. He is a filmmaker who works on more indie projects. Stephen and his wife bought a house in Nyack, New York for $810,000. But when it was time for the house to fall into foreclosure, he owed more than the house was worth: over $1 million, because of unpaid back-taxes and fees. Stephen Baldwin declared bankruptcy in 2009. He owed $1 million in taxes, $700,000 in credit cards, and $1.2 million for his mortgage.

But his financial issues did not stop there. In 2012, he was arrested for not filing his taxes three years in a row. He owed $350,000, and blamed his accountants for the error. Stephen Baldwin is a born-again Christian, and he comes out with a lot of “faith based” movies. Since these are more small-budget Christian films, it doesn’t seem like he is going to make enough to afford another million-dollar house any time in the future. He moved to a small apartment in Queens, and was finally able to pay off his tax debt just before his daughter Hailey married Justin Bieber. (via Page Six)

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Kristen Bell

Kristen Bell is an actress who is best known for her role as Anna in Disney’s “Frozen”, but she has also starred in several TV series and movies. However, before she made all of that money from Frozen, she was struggled financially. When she was just 22 years old, she purchased a $3.1 million home in Los Angeles after the peak of her popularity in series like “Veronica Mars”. And in 2009, the home was photographed for InStyle Magazine. When she lived there, Kristen had several house guests and roommates keeping her company in the 7-bedroom house at all times.

Kristen got engaged to Dax Shepard, she moved into his house instead. When her home went into foreclosure, it went at auction for $2.6 million. So unfortunately, it sold for a lot less than she paid for it. Thankfully, she was able to put her financial troubles behind her. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Kristen Bell currently has a $40 million net worth. She and Dax are happily married, and her career has taken off in a big way. (via Dirt)

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R. Kelly

R. Kelly is an R&B musician who has been caught up in more than one scandal during his career. Most recently, in 2022, he was found guilty of some unspeakable acts, and has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. But long before he was put behind bars, R. Kelly’s financial life was falling apart, too. At the peak of his career, R. Kelly was worth well over $100 million. But his lavish lifestyle and questionable choices made all of that money disappear.

In 2011, Kelly was hit with a $2.9 million foreclosure lawsuit, which is more than the amount he paid for the home in 2008. In 2013, J.P. Morgan Chase paid $950,000 to buy R. Kelly’s mansion in Illinois. The foreclosure wasn’t the end of his woes. He also owed $5 million in unpaid taxes. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he has a negative net worth of $2 million. Considering that he has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, there is zero chance he can recover his career, pay off his debts, or get his life back on track. (via NBC News)

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Burt Reynolds

Back in the 70’s, Burt Reynolds was a huge star in movies like “The Longest Yard” and “Smokey and the Bandit”. He continued his career well into the 90’s with hits like “Boogie Nights”. At his peak in the 1980’s, he was worth $60 million. Adjusted for inflation, that would be more like $150 million in today’s money. However, his fortune didn’t last, because of his spending habits. Burt Reynolds bought multiple homes like a waterfront home, a 150-acre horse ranch, and more. He also purchased a private jet and helicopter to take him wherever he pleased.

On top of spending, he made some bad business moves. One of his investments in a restaurant business lost $20 to $30 million. He also went through a divorce, and paid millions to fund a TV show on CBS that never reached syndication. This forced him into bankruptcy in 1996. A few years later, in 2011, one of his Florida mansions entered foreclosure, because he owed two mortgages on the home totaling nearly $2 million. The house was estimated to be worth $4 million, and he was foolishly trying to sell it for $8.9 million for multiple years in a row, which is probably why no one bought it before it was too late. (via The Things)

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Warren Sapps

NFL star, Warren Sapps, was a defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as the Oakland Raiders. He earned a whopping $77 million during his NFL career, and yet when it was time to declare bankruptcy, he had less than $1,000 left in his bank account. In 2012, there was an auction of all of his possessions, including 200 pairs of sneakers, and of course, his Florida mansion. This was just a few years after retiring from football in 2007.

At the time of his bankruptcy, Warren Sapps was $6.7 million in debt. His house was eventually auctioned off for $2.9 million, even though it was once estimated to be worth $7 million. On top of the real estate debt, he also owed a lot of money in back-taxes to the IRS and unpaid child support payments that amounted to almost $1 million. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he now has a net worth of $500,000 left, but it could easily be less. (via Yahoo)

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Nicolas Cage

Many of you will know Nicolas Cage as the eccentric actor who has played in a large number of movies, including “National Treasure”. At one time, he had won an Academy Award and had a net worth of over $150 million. He made some crazy purchases, like shrunken head and dinosaur bones. But at one point, he owned 15 homes! However, this spending caught up with him, because two of his homes in New Orleans ended up going into foreclosure.

The haunted LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, which is said to be haunted. Credit: Wandering Crystal

Cage owed $5.5 million in mortgage payments and $151,730 to the City of New Orleans in real estate taxes. Nicolas Cage blame this all on his manager Samuel Levin, so he decided to bring him to court. According to Cage, Levin duped him out of more than $20 million, and it was his fault that he was falling into financial ruin. Later, Nicholas Cage began to take as many acting roles as he could to earn more money again. His current net worth is said to be around $25 million. (via CNN)

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Chamillionaire

The rapper, Chamillionaire, has the word “millionaire” in his name, and yet he ended up having his $2 million mansion in Houston, Texas go into foreclosure in 2010. But according to him, he did it on purpose. He told TMZ, “I have multiple houses with mortgages- some for me, some for other people. This, for me, was my most expensive mortgage. And I decided to let that house go. When the market went down, that house was worth nothing. I was always on the road touring. And I just didn’t feel like it was a good business investment to pay that much mortgage for a house I was never at.”

Most people would sell the house, instead of letting it go into foreclosure. But hey, to each their own. Most financial experts would tell you that this was a bad “business decision”, as he put it. A foreclosure stays on your credit report for 7 years, and it will make it difficult for him to take out any new credit in the future. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Chamillionaire still has $50 million, so he seems to be doing just fine. “When I’m a ChaThousandaire, then y’all will have a real story,” he told TMZ. (via TMZ)

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Evander Holyfield

Boxer Evander Holyfield is yet another famous athlete who spent far too much of his money, and ended up going into bankruptcy. His house was the most expensive so far on this list. He purchased his home for $14 million, and still owed that much to the bank when the house went into foreclosure. On top of that, he owed over $200,000 in back taxes. To make matters worse, when the house went up for auction, it only sold for $7.5 million.

During his peak, Evander Holyfield had earned over $200 million. His trouble partially stemmed from multiple divorces, as well as having 11 kids with 6 different women. All of those kids needed child support, and an expensive private education. His net worth dwindled down to just $500,000. But he manages to make some money here and there doing brand deals on Instagram. So hopefully Evander Holyfield will be okay living more of a middle-class lifestyle. (via TMZ)

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Erin Moran

Actress Erin Moran was most famous for her role on the TV series “Happy Days” back in the 1970’s. She was so popular that she even got to star in a spin-off series with her same character called “Joanie Loves Chachi”. Sadly, Erin struggled with depression, and she blames it on ruining her acting career. She worked on very few projects from the 1990’s into the 2000’s.

In 2010, Joanie was behind $315,000 on her mortgage. It sold at auction for only $291,000. Even though she was going through foreclosure, Erin refused to leave the house. The sheriff had to serve her an eviction notice. At the time of her death, Erin Moran was worth just $50,000. She was said to be “broke and homeless”, and was forced to live with her mother-in-law in a trailer park. Sadly, she passed away at just 56 years old. (via TMZ)

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Celebrity rapper Nas. Credit: Town Squaire Media

Nas

Some of you may be familiar with the rapper, Nas. His 3,500-square-foot home was purchased back in 2004 for a reported $584,000. The performer allegedly could not keep up with the mortgage payment so he went into default. He owes SunTrust Bank $507,000. When the house sold at auction, it went for just $348,500.

Nas’ former home in Georgia. Credit: TMZ

Nas’ money troubles were partly because of his divorce. The judge ordered that he needed to pay a whopping $25,000 a month to his ex for both alimony and child support. On top of that, he owed the IRS nearly $6 million in unpaid taxes. On the bright side, Nas is still young and working in his career. According to Wealthy Gorilla, his current net worth is about $70 million.(via News One)

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Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens made $80 million during his NFL career, and he bought multiple condos in Texas, as well as a mansion in Florida. He gained a reputation of being a “bad boy”- ignoring both doctors and coaches, and getting into fights with other players. Terrell Owens admitted that one of his biggest mistakes with money was trying to keep up with what he thought every other wealthy person was doing. “At that time I got sucked into wanting to be like everybody else, the guys with the Mercedes and all the flashy cars and the jewelry. I think those are some of the most idiotic purchases I think players can do, especially when they don’t have that money in the bank account to really pay for that stuff.”

On top of excessive spending, Terrell Owens also ran into a lot of trouble because of his relationship choices. Owens pays $44,600 per month in child support payments to the 3 mothers of his four kids. He was known for avoiding being an active father, which came to light on an episode of Dr. Phil. Today, Terrell Owens has an estimated net worth of just $500,000. However, even at 48 years old, he’s not done playing football. He joined the Fan Controlled Football League in 2022, and continues to work in the industry to earn a living. (via Yahoo)

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Teresa Giudice

This one almost doesn’t belong on the list, only because reality star Teresa Giudice was able to get her house out of foreclosure before it was too late. Some of you may recognize Teresa from The Real Housewives of New Jersey. The trouble all started when she was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. While she was in jail, the house went into foreclosure.

The beautiful kitchen of Teresa Guidice’s mansion. Credit: Jersey Digs

Guidice tried to list the house for $3 million, but she still owed $1.7 million to the bank. There was a total of $11 million in debt. She and her husband also owned two other houses in New Jersey that were entering pre-foreclosure status. However, her attempted bankruptcy was fraudulent, since she and her husband still had income and plenty of assets. So she actually had the money to save the house from being foreclosed on. Giuice’s lawyer told People Magazine, “Losing the family home was never an option. Teresa made that very clear to me. There was no way we were going to let that happen. I am very happy it all worked out.” According to Celebrity Net Worth, Teresa Giudice is worth $500 million. (via Bravo TV)

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Chris Tucker

Actor and comedian Chris Tucker is best known for his work in the “Rush Hour”. The franchise has taken in more than $500 million at the U.S. box office alone. Tucker was paid $20 million for “Rush Hour 2” and $25 million for “Rush Hour 3,” and he took to his upgraded lifestyle with gusto. In 2007, he splurged on a 10,000-square-foot home in Florida with five bedrooms, an outdoor kitchen, and a basement decorated to look like a pirate ship, at a cost of $6 million.

On Oct. 13, 2011, People magazine reported that the mansion had gone into foreclosure. The actor’s monthly mortgage payments were almost $26,000, and he owed more than $4 million to his bank, according to papers filed in Lake County circuit court. The documents also showed an Internal Revenue Service lien on the property in the amount of $11.5 million, to collect unpaid income taxes. Today, Chris Tucker’s net worth is estimated to be just $5 million. (via CNBC)

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Michael Jackson and his sister LaToya. Credit: US Weekly

LaToya Jackson

LaToya Jackson is a sister of Michael Jackson. She began her career as a solo artist in 1980, but never achieved anything like the success of her famous siblings. When she posed for Playboy magazine in 1989, the move alienated her from her family, and she and the Jackson music empire were officially on the outs.

Jackson gained a moderately high profile by appearing on such reality shows as “Armed & Famous” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” but these were not high-paying gigs. In September 2009, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported her Las Vegas condominium had gone into default and multiple liens had been placed against the property for delinquent fees. The house was only worth $260,000, but she owed $750,000 on the mortgage, suggesting that she took out multiple mortgages to stay afloat. (via Las Vegas Review Journal)

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