As time passes, things change. It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, your condition will eventually change. We’ve seen the less fortunate working hard and changing their financial status, and we’ve also seen business tycoons ruining their lives with their ill-informed decisions. 

Jocelyn Wildenstein

Jocelyn Wildenstein, also known as “Catwoman,” spent $1 million on lavish purchases and $5,000 phone bills every month. In May 2018, the socialite filed for bankruptcy, claiming that she had $0 in her bank account.

Jocelyn Wildenstein, nicknamed “Catwoman” since she was obsessed with plastic surgery to get feline facial features, has sought bankruptcy protection under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy code, claiming that the balance on her Citibank account is $0.

The filing states that the 77-year-old Manhattanite receives no more than $900 a month from Social Security. She claims that some of her expenses are now paid for by her friends and family. 

Although Jocelyn Wildenstein is on a tight budget, she owns some expensive properties. She was once called the “Bride of Wildenstein” for owning three adjoining apartments on floor 51 of the Trump World Tower that were together worth $11.75 million.

There are other underwater assets, such as a $38,000 debt that was owed to Chase Auto Finance for a 2006 Bentley, worth $35,000 now. So, she has a total of $16.4 million in assets and $6.4 million in liabilities.

Bernie Madoff

Bernard “Bernie” Madoff developed the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding thousands of investors for billions of dollars over a period of at least 17 years. He was sentenced to federal prison for a maximum of 150 years in 2009. 

Since Madoff was a well-reputed financier; several investors trusted him with their money and handed him their savings. He falsely promised consistent profits in return. Madoff’s investors lost approximately $65 billion, and his fraud went undetected for decades.

In December 2008, he was arrested and accused of 11 counts of fraud, perjury, theft, and money laundering. The court sentenced Madoff to 150 years in prison for his pyramid scheme that was so extensive that even today, only a small number of his victims have recovered all their losses.

As of 2020, approximately $3.2 billion has been returned to Madoff’s victims by the US Department of Justice. 

Another reason Madoff remained unnoticed for so long is due to his financial background and involvement. In 1960, he launched his own market-maker firm and played a leading role in launching the NASDAQ stock market.

In addition, he served on the board of the National Association of Securities Dealers and provided recommendations to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Therefore, people easily believed that what he was doing was right.

However, things began to worsen when his investors demanded a total payout of $7 billion, and he only had $200 to $300 million to give. (Source)

Elizabeth Holmes

Elizabeth Holmes once held a net worth of $5 billion and was a prominent Silicon Valley figure. She had a blood-testing company, Theranos, valued at $9 billion. Later, it was revealed that Theranos’ blood tests were highly inaccurate. In June 2018, she was charged with wire fraud and has a current net worth of $0.

According to Forbes, Elizabeth Holmes had a net worth of $4.5 billion, making her the richest self-made woman. Today Forbes lowers its estimate of her net worth to zero.

Approximately 50% of Holmes’ wealth was derived from Theranos, the blood-testing company she developed in 2003 to revolutionize diagnostic tests. Shares of Theranos are not traded on any stock market; they were purchased by investors in 2014 at a price that implied a $9 billion valuation for the company.

Since then, Theranos has been accused of running inaccurate tests and has been under investigation by a variety of federal agencies. Moreover, Forbes has released a new, lower estimate of Theranos’ value as a result of new information showing Theranos’ annual revenue is below $100 million.

Theranos is more realistically valued at $800 million than $9 billion, based on Forbes‘ interviews with venture capitalists, industry experts, and analysts. According to VC Experts, a venture capital research firm, this credit is for the company’s intellectual property and the $724 million that it raised.

The investment also represents a generous multiple of Theranos’ revenue, according to an individual with knowledge about Theranos’ finances. Due to the low value of Holmes’ stake, the company is practically worthless. (Source)

Gudmundsson was once Iceland’s second-richest person, with a major stake in a bank called Landsbanki. His bank collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis and was purchased by the Icelandic government. He then filed bankruptcy, and Forbes reduced his net worth from $1.2 billion to $0. 

The Icelandic former billionaire has gone through so much throughout his career as a brewers shipping executive, embezzler, and soccer team owner.

He started facing troubles in the mid-80s when his company, Hafskip, failed and he was sentenced to a year of imprisonment for embezzlement. After that, he went to Russia to regain his fortune. He and his son started operating a soft drink company. They turned it into a brewery and flourished once again. 

However,  Gudmundsson had a net worth of $1.2 billion in March 2008, but his company Landsbanki failed just after seven months. This ruined his billionaire status and was sunk to zero. By December, his net worth was reduced to $0. His company Hansa was in voluntary liquidation, and his football club was for sale.  

In August 2009, he filed for bankruptcy, stating that he owed more than $500 million. Center for Economic Studies & Ifo Institute reported that this was the largest personal bankruptcy in history. During the hearing, he claimed he had an “almost complete lack of income.” (Source)

Eike Batista

In 2012, Brazilian businessman Eike Batista was the seventh-richest person in the world and the most wealthy person in Brazil. He had a net worth of $35 billion. In 2014, he lost all his fortune and owed a net $1.2 billion to creditors. 

Eike Batista made a fortune from his father’s mining commodities which made him a multimillionaire income at the age of 23. Later, he launched his gold mining company which led to the creation of EBX Group.

In 2000, he had a net worth of $20 billion by operating eight gold mines in Canada and Brazil and a silver mine in Chile. He went on to create five more operating companies: MPX in energy, MMX, in mining, LLX in logistics, OGX in petroleum, and OSX for the offshore industry. All his companies flourished, making his net worth ballooned to $35 billion in 2012.    

Among his five companies, the oil and gas business was his crown jewel. However, the oil production from the areas they had was much less than anticipated. This destroyed investor confidence and made it difficult for the company to pay its debts while financing new developments.

In 2013, the company was $5.1 billion in debt and filed for bankruptcy protection. Things became worse when Batista unloaded some of his stock before OGX went bankrupt to make a quick profit. Now he faces charges of insider trading for using confidential information for that profit.

Brazil has seized all of Batista’s assets and making him face the punishment of up to 13 years behind bars. Almost all of his business failed and four of his companies went bankrupt. (1, 2) 

Allen Stanford 

Stanford was convicted for the second biggest Ponzi scheme in US history and is currently serving a 110-year sentence. More than 18,000 investors lost $7 billion in the Ponzi scheme, and they have yet to receive compensation for their losses.

Robert Allen Stanford is an American former banker who, in 2012, was found guilty of fraud involving a Ponzi scheme involving $7 billion in securities fraud. Stanford perpetrated this fraud by grossly misinforming the 50,000 investors about how well their investments were handled.

About 18,000 of his investors have not yet been repaid. Stanford was accused of fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and convicted in 2012.

Being America’s richest man, Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison in 2012 ruling and has been indicted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stanford has claimed repeatedly that he is innocent and a victim of a false investigation. (1, 2)

Patricia Kluge

Kluge invested a huge amount into a vineyard, which she gained from her high-profile divorce settlement. After the housing market crashed, Kluge lost all her money and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. 

Kluge’s financial troubles began in 1999 when she established the Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard on 960 acres near Albemarle with her third husband, William Moses. A few months after Kluge wines appeared on society tables, they headed to upscale restaurants as well.

Therefore, she decided to expand her business. She took out $65 million in loans and expanded the wine production. That was the beginning of the housing crisis. Buyers were not attracted to Vineyard Estates and its value plummeted.

Albemarle was put up for sale in 2009 by Kluge. It was initially listed as a $100 million property then was cut to $48 million in 2010 and then to $24 million. She then tried to sell other items to get rid of the loan but all her personal things including jewelry, art, furniture, etc. were only worth $15.1 million. 

Since no buyer emerged for Albemarle in 2010, Kluge stopped making payments and was in default on nearly $24 million in Bank of America loans. Bank of America foreclosed on her home in January, and the estate was auctioned off in mid-February.

In the absence of an offer of more than $15 million, the bank took possession. The funds she raised were not sufficient to keep her from going bankrupt. Her vineyard job was even terminated by Trump after just a year. (1, 2)

McClendon was the co-founder of the oil gas company “Chesapeake Energy” and had a net worth of $1.2 billion. In 2016, he was charged with federal conspiracy charges over unfair manipulation of drilling bids. He had massive debts and a net worth of zero when he died. 

On 2 March 2016, John Raymond, the CEO of the EMG (Energy and Minerals Group), sent a notice to all his investors that he would no longer be working with Aubrey McClendon. He turned his Chesapeake Energy company into the country’s second-biggest natural gas company.

He was, however, on the verge of a surprising fall. Federal prosecutors accused McClendon of rigging drilling bids, an antitrust violation, one day before Raymond sent out his memo. McClendon’s newly formed company, American Energy Partners, had poured more than $3 billion into EMG. 

On 2 March, he went to his office and sent a few emails. He then leaped into his 2013 Chevy Tahoe without his security detail. He left American Energy’s headquarters in Oklahoma City and headed north.

Less than twenty minutes later at 78 miles per hour, he swerved out of the right lane, crossed the road, and hit a bridge abutment. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt and died right on the spot. (Source)

Sean Quinn

Quinn was the richest person in Ireland, but his bad investments made him lose most of his $2.8 billion fortune. In November 2011, he said that he had less than 55,000 pounds when he filed for bankruptcy. 

In March 2008, Sean Quinn was the 164th richest person in the world, having a net worth of $6 billion. As of 2008, Quinn was the richest person in Ireland and the 12th richest in the UK. 

Quinn was a self-made businessman who started a multi-billion pound business network by selling gravel that he quarried from his family’s farm in Derrylin.

In 2010, his entire business empire collapsed, and in 2011, he filed for bankruptcy. 

According to RTE, the bank that called in his loans has a vendetta against him. However, IBRC said they were just attempting to recoup two billion euros the Quinn family owed them. Quinn was sentenced to jail in November 2012 for three counts of contempt of court. (1, 2)