It’s assumed by many that athletes are set for life once they sign these big fat contracts worth millions of dollars to play some kind of sports. But the truth is, just like everyone else, they need a good financial sense to make smart decisions with their money, or else that money could easily disappear. And there are plenty of horror stories of athletes who went spending crazy during their playing days or got in deep with the sharks and made bad financial decisions and then lost it all.
Just because you signed a million dollar deal doesn’t mean you will always be worth that money. Smart players invest that money, while others blow it on cars, houses and paying child support payments. Some are just too giving and give friends and family money, thinking it will always be there, but the truth is, once the sports life is over, that money isn’t coming in anymore. Here are just a few athletes who lost it all.
16 Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson’s financial collapse is the pinnacle of a million-dollar athlete losing it all. Tyson earned over $300 million in his career as a boxer, but filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and most of it through reckless spending, buying up houses he never lived in and cars he never drove. He basically bought showrooms of cars, just because he could.
15 Allen Iverson
Financial planning isn’t a game, but it doesn’t require practice. To bad Allen Iverson didn’t take any lessons on managing finances. The former NBA MVP went through a messy divorce, and despite him making millions in NBA contracts, his ex-wife said he was broke and in massive debt. He apparently spent money on clothing as when he traveled, he didn’t want to carry luggage.
14 Antoine Walker
Earning over $108 million in his NBA career still didn’t stop Antoine Walker from going broke and losing it all. But it’s more careless spending, especially on suits, as he would buy designer suits and only wear them once. He was arrested in Las Vegas in 2009 after writing over $1 million in bad checks to casinos and finally filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
13 Terrell Ownes
Hopefully, Terrell Owens can call his former teammate and quarterback Tony Romo after he signed that new fat commentator contract for some money, as Owens, who made over $80 million in career earnings, filed for bankruptcy in 2012, citing bad investments and the collapsing housing market as the issues. It also didn’t help he had $50,000 a month in child support payments to make.
12 John Daly
Considering John Daly’s antics on the golf course, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he made this list. Daly admitted he lost enormous amounts of money because of gambling, saying he lost more money than most golfers make in a career. He lost about $94 million on games of chance.
11 Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman was definitely colorful on the court, but off the court, he probably could use a lot more green. Rodman went broke and lost it all having to pay back child support, as he owed $800,000 in back child support payments and $50,000 spousal support. Even NBA championships can’t buy you financial freedom.
10 Sheryl Swoopes
Sherly Swoopes made millions as a WNBA player, over $50 million during her professional career. The WNBA held her up as a face of the league, but they probably want to keep the fact that she lost it all due to overspending, investing in terrible investments and bad representation led her to losing it all. It was so bad, she even had to sell her Olympic medal and her Naismith trophy in order to pay back the IRS.
9 Lawrence Taylor
Left tackles in football today make millions of dollars, all because of Lawrence Taylor and his ability to get to the quarterback. But a drug problem ate away at his millions of dollars, as well as big-spending made him lose it all. And false tax claims finished him off. He basically did everything he could to lose it all.
8 Travis Henry
Travis Henry caused his own major loss of funds, as he had nine different child with nine different women, which resulted in a lot of child support payments, as the kids were all pretty close in age, so it was a lot of money to pay out. Kids are a financial responsibility athletes have, just not with nine different women.
7 Darren McCarty
Former NHL tough guy Darren McCarty had $15 million in his playing career but lost it all after he claimed he owed $6 million to creditors after some bad business deals hit him hard. Athletes make a lot of bad investments, thinking every good idea will make them even richer.
6 Warren Sapp
Warren Sapp is another former NFL player who made millions, and then had to sell off his own belongings to get by. Sapp made over $82 million as a player, but filed for bankruptcy with a bank account of just over $800. He had very expensive taste and when they auctioned off his home, people saw how much money he wasted.
5 Evander Holyfield
Evander Holyfield is another boxer who made millions in the ring, but then later lost it all. And as a common theme, it all started with owing child support payments. He had to sell his mansion, valued at $7.5 million, which didn’t scratch the surface of what he owed the bank. He finally had to sell his things to get the money to pay back debtors.
4 Deuce McAllister
Former running back Deuce Mcallister made over $70 million in the NFL, but even that couldn’t stop him from losing it all. He got into the car dealership business and invested heavily, but the business went bankrupt and he owed Nissan more than $6.6 million plus interest. Just another poor investment by a player.
3 John Arne Riise
At one point, John Arne Riise was making $75,000 a week playing for Liverpool. But by 2007 he had filed for bankruptcy after a dispute with his financial advisors and former agent about how his fortune was to be invested. He was linked to a $4 million fraud investigation in Norway as well, which took even more money.
2 Scottie Pippen
The six-time NBA Champion Scottie Pippen made over $120 million as a player, but he lost $27 million through poor investments, and he owed the bank over $5 million in fees for his lawsuit against the law firm who invested his money. A failed comeback couldn’t right the wrongs of his financial investments.
1 Marion Jones
Marion Jones had made over $7 million per year, but the three-time Olympic Gold Medalist lost it all when the truth about her winning came out. Her steroid use was just the start, as check counterfeiting, forging and perjury with the IRS landed her in a lot of trouble. She was also involved in money laundering and other illegal activity and she lost all her medals, went bankrupt and served time in jail.