While the magic of celebrity may elevate the status attributed to specific people, this does not mean that everything celebs touch turns to gold. Here are a few bad celeb investments that may make you feel better during the night.
Mark Twain
A well-known writer and humorist who has been called America's first modern celebrity, Mark Twain spent $150,000 to $300,000 (a huge amount of cash back then) over 11 years during the late 19th century on a machine known as the Paige Compositor. This was a typesetter that was said to be faster than standard Linotype. Unfortunately, the machine had more than 18,000 parts and needed constant care, so the business died.
Not the very best with Jay-Z hotels
Jay-Z's J Hotels in New York City turned out to be a serious bust. The hip-hop mogul bought land in the Chelsea neighborhood in 2007 to build a 150,000-square-foot luxury hotel. By 2008, however, construction was shut down because of lack of funds brought on by the economic crash. Jay-Z's company defaulted on the $52 million loan, and the hotel partners gave the property back to the lenders. Legal battles and out-of-court settlements came to a painful yet unspecified financial end in December 2010.
Bono not investing wisely
The U2 front male 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 massive losses. Ultimately, Elevation's return on those investments was only $25 million, which was enough to convince the site 24/7 Wall Street that Bono is "the worst investor in America."
Large Larry King investment
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.
Everybody involved in Madoff
More than 200 investors, such as celebs were taken in by Bernard Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Madoff is now in jail serving 150 years for 11 federal felonies, while celebs and lower-profile investors are still trying to find ways to make up for their sizable financial loss.
Burt Reynolds
The most popular film star of the 1970s, Burt Reynolds ended up handling the urge many celebs 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.
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds decided she wanted to open a Las Vegas casino and hotel in 1991, although she did not realize that being off the strip would make it extremely hard to stay in business. It was known as the Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino, but she ended up selling it for $10 million to the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 after a 1997 bankruptcy. She ended up broke, and was even more serious off when having to sell all her movie career memorabilia last year when her museum went bankrupt.
Mark Twain
A well-known writer and humorist who has been called America's first modern celebrity, Mark Twain spent $150,000 to $300,000 (a huge amount of cash back then) over 11 years during the late 19th century on a machine known as the Paige Compositor. This was a typesetter that was said to be faster than standard Linotype. Unfortunately, the machine had more than 18,000 parts and needed constant care, so the business died.
Not the very best with Jay-Z hotels
Jay-Z's J Hotels in New York City turned out to be a serious bust. The hip-hop mogul bought land in the Chelsea neighborhood in 2007 to build a 150,000-square-foot luxury hotel. By 2008, however, construction was shut down because of lack of funds brought on by the economic crash. Jay-Z's company defaulted on the $52 million loan, and the hotel partners gave the property back to the lenders. Legal battles and out-of-court settlements came to a painful yet unspecified financial end in December 2010.
Bono not investing wisely
The U2 front male 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 massive losses. Ultimately, Elevation's return on those investments was only $25 million, which was enough to convince the site 24/7 Wall Street that Bono is "the worst investor in America."
Large Larry King investment
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.
Everybody involved in Madoff
More than 200 investors, such as celebs were taken in by Bernard Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Madoff is now in jail serving 150 years for 11 federal felonies, while celebs and lower-profile investors are still trying to find ways to make up for their sizable financial loss.
Burt Reynolds
The most popular film star of the 1970s, Burt Reynolds ended up handling the urge many celebs 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.
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds decided she wanted to open a Las Vegas casino and hotel in 1991, although she did not realize that being off the strip would make it extremely hard to stay in business. It was known as the Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino, but she ended up selling it for $10 million to the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 after a 1997 bankruptcy. She ended up broke, and was even more serious off when having to sell all her movie career memorabilia last year when her museum went bankrupt.
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