Went Bankrupt, Now Worth Millions!
In recessions, thousands of people go bankrupt everyday and are at the lowest point ever!
In this Entrepreneurs List I show you people that have been through tough times and who eventually came out on top again. I consider them inspirational and I hope you do too. Tough times never last but tough people do.
I was once told that you aren’t a true entrepreneur if you haven’t gone bankrupt at least once!
Well Walt Disney shows us how its done, he was fired by a newspaper editor because “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. In fact, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on the grounds that it would only attract riffraff.
It is also notable that I have included the founder of Penthouse and the blogger Perez Hilton both web entrepreneurs! The difference between them and the others on the list is that their money is new money, made in the last 10 years! If you would like to follow in their foot steps then check out my FREE 7 day eCourse to making money online!
30 Entrepreneurs Who Went Bankrupt
| Name | Birthdate | Profession | Bankruptcy Date | Eventual Net Worth |
|
Henry Ford
 |
July 30, 1863 | Founder of Ford Motor | 1903 | $188,000,000,000 |
|
Donald Trump |
June 14, 1946 | Real Estate Developer | 1990 | $3,000,000,000 |
|
Walt Disney |
December 5, 1901 | Founder of Disney | 1921 | $1,100,000,000 |
|
Anna Nicole Smith |
November 28, 1967 | Model, Actress | 1996 | $450,000,000 |
|
H.J. Heinz |
October 11, 1844 | Founder of Heinz | 1875 | $400,000,000 |
|
George Foreman |
January 5, 1949 | Boxer/Grill Spokesman | 1983 | $300,000,000 |
|
Bob Guccione |
December 17, 1930 | Founder of Penthouse | 2003 | $400,000,000 |
|
Kim Basinger |
December 8, 1953 | Actress | 1993 | $250,000,000 |
|
Clarence Saunders |
August 9, 1881 | Founder of Piggly Wigglies (Now Safeway) | 1922 | $180,000,000 |
|
Milton Hershey |
September 13, 1857 | Founder of Hershey | 1880 | $150,000,000 |
|
Larry King |
November 19, 1933 | News Anchor | 1978 | $144,000,000 |
|
William C. Durant |
December 8, 1861 | Founder of General Motors and Chevrolet | 1936 | $120,000,000 |
|
Ulysses S. Grant |
April 27, 1822 | President | 1881 | $95,100,000 |
|
Francis Ford Coppola |
April 7, 1939 | Film Director | 1990 | $67,400,000 |
|
Isaac Hayes |
August 20, 1942 | Singer, Actor | 1976 | $50,000,000 |
|
MC Hammer |
March 30, 1962 | Rapper | 1996 | $33,000,000 |
|
Wayne Newton |
April 3, 1942 | Singer, Actor | 1992 | $30,000,000 |
|
Burt Reynolds |
February 11, 1936 | Actor | 1996 | $30,000,000 |
|
P.T. Barnum |
July 5, 1810 | Showman |
1856
|
$25,000,000 |
|
Mick Fleetwood |
June 24, 1947 | Musician, Activist |
1984
|
$25,000,000 |
|
Randy Quaid |
October 1, 1950 | Actor |
2000
|
$25,000,000 |
|
Stan Lee |
December 28, 1922 | Founder of Marvel |
2000
|
$20,000,000 |
|
Abraham Lincoln |
February 12, 1809 | President |
1833
|
$18,400,000 |
|
John Connally |
February 27, 1917 | Govenor of Texas |
1988
|
$11,000,000 |
|
Heidi Fleiss |
December 30, 1965 | Hollywood Madame |
1998
|
$10,000,000 |
|
Perez Hilton |
March 23, 1978 | Blogger |
2005
|
$10,000,000 |
|
Buffalo Bill |
February 26, 1846 | Showman |
1913
|
$8,000,000 |
|
William McKinley |
January 29, 1843 | President |
1893
|
$7,500,000 |
|
Jerry Lee Lewis |
September 29, 1935 | Singer, Songwriter, Pianist |
1988
|
$5,000,000 |
|
Benedict Arnold |
January 14, 1741 | Major General |
1779
|
$2,500,000 |
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Learning from mistakes and growing from them is the best thing you can do. You cant be successful with out failing at least once.
What an inspiring blog! Loved it. Though i dont wish to be bankrupt but yes i definitely want to reach the top.
Good Great Work Micheal
Very interesting to see some of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time, such as Henry Ford, on this list. It proves that you can become rich no matter what, just like these people did.
Thanks for taking the time to write this Michael! 🙂
Divorces are a sucker for the money aren’t they Burt… He went on to get a Golden Globe Award after though, bet the ex weren’t chuffed Hahaha!
wooo.. nice list you got there!
Awesome list! It’s great to see the determination of these inspiring entrepreneurs.
Wow great list Mike!
Nice List! And Scary too. You should show this list again on Halloween!
Another great list, keep it up!
Interesting list. Some names here I had no idea they were bankrupt at one time! Good post.
-Eric
I didn’t know some of them went bankrupt either! When I mentioned to my mum that Walt Disney went bankrupt, she said I know, like 6 times!
Timely!!! Just what I needed to get me motivated again. “It doesn’t matter how many times you fall its how many times you get up that counts.” Thanx Guys I am starting to believe again!
All your lists are Awesome Michael. I am really experiencing the fame the ford company has bought to itself. It has grown a lot in India.
Wow, pretty long list. But thanks for that surely it gives hope to many who has been greatly affected by the economic crisis. it would be nice to know how they made it through the rut.
Great post as ever. Thanks
Great List and quite motivating. I guess I will file for bankruptcy right away, so I can begin making millions.
Wow. That is impressive! Some of them managed to get that much money in very little time.
Wow, awesome post.
Awesome energy in this post. Gives us little guys some hope.
awesome list and makes you realize that no matter what if you are determined you will succeed at the end 🙂
Great list! Very inspiring to know that so many fell before they made it.
Very cool haha. I think Perez Hilton is just the coolest “thing” on this list. 10 Millions since 2005 .. nice one! 🙂
Excellent information, and another lesson, failure is a learning experience, but we should never quit reaching for our dreams.
Walt Disney and Ford. Really interesting. How do you get these data and how the idea comes to your mind.
A lot of research… actually both of them have something in common with me, both college drop outs, dyslexic and left handed… crazy isn’t it!
Enjoy your articles as always! There’s nothing wrong with being bankrupt as long as we have the gut to rise and fight again.
Never give up! Keep fighting is the key to success!
I really enjoyed this post and I want to read more from you. I had some question for you though but I will email you that. Great Blog.
Mohammad Afaq
Free Website Traffic
good! post
Great list and a indication that great results come from the ability to deal with “failure” and the gifts that we get from those experiences.
You tabulated 30 celebrity, high profile examples. They are the tip of a massive iceberg of failure to success stories that are inspiring stories of passion and persistence.
I have no any experiences with both yet, going bankrupty or being a millionaire
Great post, and useful information. thank you 🙂 Dea
Hey Michael, Great post. It only goes to show me that no matter what happens if you are doing what you really believe in and have a passion for it… and if you fail once, twice, get up and keep on trucking. Thanks for the list also. JJ
Always great to here from you JJ, I hope the momscashblog is going great!
Definitly keep getting up, whats the worst that can happen? We end up back being where we are, happy and motivated!
very inspiring post, love it !
Wow. Where are these net worth facts from? You have got to be kidding me. Not even close.
It is a great story. I had no idea Perez Hilton was old enough to go broke lol.
There are many folks who went from nothing to something. I love the story of JK Rowling (Harry Potter) she was on welfare, single mom …now…WOW.
Never give up on your dreams folks.
even donald trump bankrupt in 1990..huhu.. wow a billionare always a billionare
wohh! awesome post.
This is very inspiring considering im a student clocking up my student loan debt lol
Thanks again
I found your great post just when I needed it! We’re filing for bankruptcy next week…one of the main reasons is that we can’t build any future if we’re drowning in debt and trying to live on pennies all the time.
Thank you! Morgan, at The Debt Dance.com
PerezHilton is also in the list.
I don’t know that he’s been bankrupt before become millionaires..
Cheers to PerezHilton! and Micheal too… 😀
Michael,
Great list of people. It is amazing to know that even when you hit rock bottom in life and in business, you can always bounce back and do very very well.
Thanks for sharing this amazing list with us.
Tal Fighel
Love the list…. but not sure if Anna Nicole Smith should be in there….
But I guess “Gold Digging” can be considered an entrepreneurial venture nowadays… haha
Donald Trump is my idol!
hoping wud become millionaire one day like stan lee.lover of spider man
I was motivated completely by this list. Thanks
wow, some real surprises on that list, goes to show there is always hope.
Great post Michael – here’s an interesting fact: the average entrepreneurial millionaire has been broke or nearly broke 3.2 times!!!!!
Going through it right now as an entrepreneur… this blog has been so meaningful to me in so many ways! Hopefully one day I will be added to this list.
Going bankrupt is part of the whole success picture.
Thanks for this Michael.
Going to bankrupt is make you success? its up for the person how to recover when they experience bankrupt, if they work hard to recover thier failure then im sure that person will be successful someday.
Facing up to your financial problems is difficult. If you’ve reached the point where you think bankruptcy is your only option, you will probably already have experienced everything from denial to praying that you win the lottery.