24 Celebrities whose millions disappeared

Teresa Giudice

One of the OG members of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Teresa Giudice not only brings the drama to the screen but also shows off her extravagant lifestyle. And it came with quite a high cost.

Back in 2009, Giudice made headlines for filing bankruptcy with a whopping $8 million in liabilities.

However, things got even worse in 2013, when the legal hammer came down, and she and her husband, Joe, were indicted on multiple fraudulent charges. They entered a guilty plea where they were handed a $400,000 bill and 15 months of jail time.

Giudice was still able to bring herself back up after divorcing her former husband, although her net worth sits at only $500,000.

Meat Loaf

The musician and actor (born Michael Lee Aday), who died in 2022 at age 74, was a larger than life personality. He had incredible success over his multi-decade career in the entertainment industry, with more than 100 films and TV shows under his belt.

However he also found himself in some steep financial trouble.

In 1983, he was forced to declare personal bankruptcy after a series of legal battles with record companies. Meat Loaf notes, “It’s shameful. I ended up bankrupt. I lost my house and everything — even the publishing rights to my songs, which the bankruptcy court took away.

But I’m not the first artist who has ever been screwed.”

When his family announced the singer’s death in January 2022, Meat Leaf still managed to leave behind a $40 million legacy.

MC Hammer

Dope on the floor and magic on the mic, Stanley Kirk Burrell still boasts one of the best selling hip-hop albums of all time with Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em.

The artist known as MC Hammer took home more than $33 million in 1991 alone, when he was still in his 20s. He splurged immediately, buying a private jet, 21 racehorses, a lavish custom-made mansion and keeping an enormous personal staff of 200 people on his payroll.

While he continued to spend, Hammer’s career never reached the same highs as it did in the early 1990s. He ended up filing for bankruptcy in 1996, when he was reportedly in debt to the tune of roughly $14 million.

Today, he is the co-founder of the website DanceJam and speaks about social media marketing at conferences around the world, including the Intel Capital CEO Summit and the Harvard Business School.

His current net worth is $2 million.