In the past week the weather has changed 5 times! In fact, in Texas, the weather can change with a minutes notice. One of the things that never changes is reading or hearing a story of an athlete or movie star who once made millions of dollars and is now having money issues!
In the past few days those types of stories have included: Gary Busey who filed for bankruptcy; Ex-Tennis Star, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who says her 60 million dollar fortune is gone and she is broke; and Terrell Owens who said his fortune is gone, close to broke and he is behind on mortgage payments
- Why does this happen?
- How does this happen?
- Do these stars really believe that every investment is going to make money?
- Do they believe that everyone they meet has their best interest at heart?
- Do they not care and just live in the moment?
I honestly don’t get it and wish that movie stars and athletes would have deferred payments so they don’t run out of money!
- What are your thoughts?
- Is there a way to help these stars?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Robert Harrell says:
The athletes need good representation. But even the most respected agent in sports-Leigh Steinberg-has gotten himself in trouble.
Jeffrey Adler says:
The superstars often have big egos. Consequently, some of them think they know more than everyone else about every subject, which makes it hard for even good advisors to tell them anything.
A few years ago, the Washington Redskins had former coach Joe Gibbs come in to give a motivational and educational talk to all the players. Now coach Gibbs has been to 4 Super Bowls, and had done an amazing job with Joe Gibbs racing. Amazingly, early in his career Gibbs got sucked in by a bad investment idea that virtually wiped him out. Many players interviewed afterward indicated that hearing about how coach Gibbs proved vulnerable made them better appreciate their own vulnerabilities.
Roger Austin says:
I think it falls in the same category as a lot of lottery winners. People who have never had much money or didn’t earn it over time have no conception of how money really works, Therefore, they spend and spend but don’t have a plan on how to keep their base. It is sad and dererrals might help but i think they would blow through that as they received it.
Gary Lawson says:
Most never took a business or accounting course in school. College athletes should be required to take such courses, learn how to balance a check book.
They should also be taught that just because someone adores them doesn’t make that fan a great business advisor. I had the pleasure of representing two wonderful NFL Hall of Fame football stars some years after they retired and had attempted to make a go of it in business. No nicer human beings. But sadly, both had several men who hung around and guided their investments and no amount of lawyering could make a pig into a purse.