Retired Baseball Player Files for Bankruptcy with $31 Million in Debt
I read yesterday that Lenny Dykstra filed for bankruptcy with an incredible $31 Million in debts. For those who might not know (or care), Dykstra is a former Major League Baseball player who played at the highest level here in the US for 12 years. He was also an all-star during his career. My point is, I’m sure the guy earned some money during his career (millions if not tens of millions).
So how did he end up with debts of $31 Million and assets of less than $50,000? I don’t have the slightest idea! For me, I’m thinking if I could earn $2 Million dollars, I would probably be set for the rest of my life and if I was worried it would run out before retirement, I could easily make that stretch far enough by working for a few more years. Of course, I probably wouldn’t be living in a mansion, flying around in my private jet, and driving a Rolls Royce as reported by cnnsi.com (I guess that answers my previous question!).
Seriously, is it just me or are you also astounded by how some of these incredibly wealthy athletes and entertainers can run through tens of millions of dollars and end up broke (a la MC Hammer)? This isn’t common, but it’s not ultra rare either. In fact, Sports Illustrated ran an article discussing how and why athletes go broke just a few months ago. It seems like they would be smart enough to at least sock away a little bit of it somewhere safe so they could fall back on it if they needed to? No? Private jet just too enticing? (I don’t know much about private jets, maybe they are an appreciating asset…but I doubt it – but they sure do seem convenient!)
There’s my tip of the day to you, my faithful reader, if (let’s think positively -”when”) you come into a few million bucks, take a bit of it and store it somewhere nice and safe – think emergency fund on steroids. Granted, it’s not as easy as just sticking your millions into a savings account at your local bank (”Sorry, John, our bank went under with $10 Million in your account, but luckily it was an FDIC-insured account so here’s your $250,000″) so maybe I’m just being naive. Well, I’ll be sure to do a series of posts on how to safely diversify and protect your millions of dollars if I ever have that much.
But back to Dykstra for a moment – $31 Million in debt and less than $50,000 in the bank?!? How is that possible? I mean, who was still loaning this guy money? “Ok, Mr. Dykstra….can I call you ‘Nails?’ Anyway, let’s see here….$25 Million in debts, no income, no assets, ummmm, sure, here’s another $6 Million to buy another mansion.” What the?!?
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9 Responses to “Retired Baseball Player Files for Bankruptcy with $31 Million in Debt”
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yea I don’t get it – I have heard about celebrity debts like this a lot lately. It kind of blows my mind that they can get so carried away with spending…
.-= ChristianPF´s last blog ..See you at the Top | Giveaway =-.
The more you have (well, he didnt have it!) the more you spend.
Conveniance costs, and private jets are no exception. It’s like owning a car, there’s the initial layout to buy the thing and then it’s all the add-ons that mount up and kill your bank balance. Just have a look at the http://www.airpartner.com site. See any prices anywhere? All of these sites are the same, POA – price on application, mere mortals need not apply. Only for those with money enough not to need to know prices or those with more money than sense (Lenny Dykstra falls into the latter category).
I don’t find it all that difficult to believe that these guys can go bankrupt so easily, most of them are athletes not businessmen. If they don’t have someone looking after their finances they’ll just spend it frivolously or get fleeced by all of the people hanging on their coat tails with their hands out.
@Ehram – You are absolutely correct that these guys are athletes and not businessmen…but even so, I’m just astounded by the magnitude of how much money they’ve squandered! Thanks for the comment.
Mike Tyson’s in good company. This is utterly incomprehensible. There are no words how people get into so much debt, much more MILLIONS in debt! It is utterly stupid and irresponsible, if I may say so. I’m still shaking my head……
Colin
Thousand Oaks Property Management
I completely agree with 2 million being plenty to live off of! It is so sad to read this…
What happened to his earnings during the prime of his career? This is so sad…
The more you give the more you have…
The article you referenced in Sports Illustrated was amazing and the importance that you present that no one is protected from money woes is great.