Author: J.D. Roth / Source: Get Rich Slowly
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It’s the first of April. You know what that means. Spring is here! Your friends and family are pulling April Fools’ Day pranks. And my tree allergies are kicking my butt. Every year, tree pollen makes my life miserable.
This year is no different.Facebook kindly reminded me this morning that three years ago, Kim and I were in Asheville, North Carolina. After wintering in Savannah, Georgia, we’d resumed our tour of the U.S. by RV.
While in Asheville, we toured the Biltmore Estate, the largest home in the U.S. This 250-room chateau contains 179,000 square feet of floor space — including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces — and originally sat on 195 square miles of land. (Today, the estate “only” contains 8000 acres.)
“This feels like Downton Abbey but in North Carolina,” I said as we walked the endless halls. Just as Downton Abbey documented the excesses of British upper class, so too the Biltmore sometimes feels like an example of how rich Americans indulged in decadence.
George Washington Vanderbilt II, the man who built Biltmore, was a member of one of the country’s wealthiest families. His grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was born poor in 1794, but by the time he died in 1877 he had become one of the richest men in the world. During his lifetime, he built a fortune first from steamships and then as a prominent railroad tycoon.
By family standards, grandson George didn’t have a lot of money. He inherited about $7 million, and drew income from a $5 million trust fund. He decided to use the bulk of his fortune to build a huge house high in the Appalachians. Work on the Biltmore Estate began in 1889, when George was 26 years old. Six years and $5 million later, he moved into his palace. (That $5 million would be roughly $90 million in today’s dollars.)
Strolling the grounds of the Biltmore Estate got me thinking about the stories we hear of wealthy people who squander their riches. How and why do they do this? Are there lessons from their stories that you and I can put to use?
We hear all the time about the “lifestyles of the rich and famous”. Today, on April 1st, let’s look at some lifestyles of the rich and foolish.
Lifestyles of the Rich and Foolish
There are so many stories of athletes and entertainers who have blown big fortunes that it’s tough to know where to start. Who should we pick on first? Since I’ve never been a fan of Nicolas Cage — and since he seems to be especially bad with money — let’s use him an example.
Over a period of fifteen years, Cage earned more than $150 million. He blew through that money buying things like:
- Fifteen homes, including an $8 million English castle that he never stayed in once.
- A private island.
- Four luxury yachts.
- A fleet of exotic cars, including a Lamborghini that used to belong to the Shah of Iran.
- A dinosaur skull he won after a bidding contest with Leonardo DiCaprio.
- A private jet.
It’s not fair to characterize Cage as “broke” — he’s still a bankable movie star — but his net worth is reportedly only about $25 million. (That’s like someone with an average income having a net worth of roughly $25,000.) He could be worth ten times as much but his foolish financial habits have caused him woe.
Cage got in trouble with the IRS for failing to pay millions of dollars in taxes. He’s been sued by multiple companies for failing to repay loans. His business manager says that he’s tried to warn Cage that his lifestyle exceeds his means, but the actor won’t listen.
Cage is but one of many celebrities who have done dumb things with money. Other prominent examples include:
- MC Hammer sold the rights to his songs to raise money after being bankrupted by his lavish lifestyle. Hammer earned more than $33 million in the early nineties, but spent the money on a $12 million mansion (with gold-plated gates), a fleet of seventeen vehicles, two helicopters, and extravagant parties. [source, source]
- Actress Kim Basinger paid $20 million to buy the town of Braselton, Georgia in 1989. When Basinger filed for bankruptcy just four years later, she was forced to sell the town. [source]
- On the night of 01 February 1976, Elvis Presley decided he wanted a Fool’s Gold Loaf, a special sandwich made of hollowed bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a pound of bacon. He and his entourage flew from Memphis to Denver. The group ate their sandwiches and then flew home. Price: $50,000 – $60,000. [source]
- Even authors get in on the act. Writer Mark Twain made tons of money through his work, but he lost much of it to bad investments, mostly in new inventions: a bed clamp for infants, a new type of steam engine, and a machine designed to engrave printing plates. Twain was a sucker for get rich quick schemes. [source, source]
When it comes to frittering way fortunes, it’s hard to compete with sports superstars. In a 2009 Sports Illustrated article about how and why athletes go broke, Pablo S. Torre wrote that after two years of retirement, “78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress.” Within five years of retirement, roughly 60% of former NBA players are in similar positions.
Some examples:
- Boxer Mike Tyson earned over $300 million in his professional career. He lost it all, spending the money on cars, jewels, pet tigers, and more. He eventually filed for bankruptcy. [source]
- When Yoenis Cespedes signed a new $75 million contract with the New York Mets, he drove a new vehicle each day during the first week of training camp, including a Lamborghini Aventador ($397,000) and an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione ($299,000). [source]
- Basketballer Vin Baker earned $100 million during his career. He’s now worth $500,000. He manages a Starbucks store in a small town in Rhode Island. (To be fair, Baker sees to be turning his life around, which is awesome.) [source]
- Hall-of-fame pitcher Curt Schilling earned $112 million during 20 years in the big leagues. It wasn’t enough to keep up with his spending. Plus he lost $50 million through the collapse of a company he owned. In 2013, he held a “fire sale” to avoid bankruptcy.
It can be tough to sympathize with these folks. Used wisely, their immense fortunes could sustain them and their families for a long time. Instead, they squander their money on fleeting pleasures and the trappings of wealth.
Still, I believe it’s best to keep the schadenfreude in check. “There but for the grace of God” and all that, right? I’ve seen plenty of examples of average folks who have wasted smaller windfalls. In fact,…
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