Not all people know how to preserve their wealth. Money may dissappear sudden or over generations, but we can only imagine that the pain is the same. Currently, we can name a lot of famous families who lost their fortune, but we picked three examples of wasteful folks that ended up losing all (or nearly all) their fortune:
1. The Pulitzers
One of the most famous families who lost their fortune are the Pulitzers. Grandson of publishing magnate Joseph Pulitzer, Peter Pulitzer had to be bailed out financially by the husband of his ex-wife. According to Forbes, the 800-acre Florida citrus grove owned by Peter and his twin sons was in danger of foreclosure after an outbreak of citrus canker.
A few years ago, Tim Boberg, husband of Roxanne Pulitzer, bailed out the citrus operation with a $220,000 mortgage on the property, guaranteed another mortgage of $1.3 million and extended a line of credit for $400,000. In his 1982 divorce filings, Peter Pulitzer had an estimated net worth of $25 million.
2. The Batistas
Eike Batista was the world’s seventh-richest man in 2012, with an estimated net worth of $30 billion. But from then on, things got very bad really quick, making him eligible for our ‘famous families who lost their fortune top’. Batista had his money on Brazilian natural resource companies that eventually tanked. His oil company, OGX, declared bankruptcy in October 2013 in the largest corporate default in Latin American history.
Bloomberg reported in January 2014 that Batista “has a negative net worth.”, but he’s now worth nearly $200 million, so don’t feel that sorry for him.
3. The Strohs
Bernhard Stroh founded an empire after he arrived to USA from Germany in 1850, with only his family beer recipe and a few dollars in his pockets. By the 1980s, the Strohs controlled the country’s 3rd-largest brewing company, according to Forbes, which valued the family fortune at around $700 million.
Today, 5 generations later, the company is gone, “thanks” to an overload of debt, stiff competition and missed opportunities.
Do you know any other examples of famous families who lost their fortune? Tell us about them, using the comments section below!
