Billionaires who went bankrupt!
Some billionaires have learned how easy it is to lose wealth due to bad investments, while others have been punished for their fraud.
That it is easy to fall from the top has also proved true in the case of these billionaires who once had it all and then learned what it was like to be left without it due to bad investments or scams they embarked on.
Patricia Kluge
Patricia Kluge, 74, was a well-known member of high society who married 34-year-old John W. Kluge in 1981, whose fortune was once estimated at $ 5 billion and he was the richest man in the United States. The former model met a wealthy entrepreneur on her trip to New York.
They divorced in 1990 after nine years of marriage and Patricia managed to arrange a generous $ 1 million in compensation for each year. In addition, John left her a huge estate in the town of Albemarle in North Carolina. Patricia wanted to create a successful business and opened a winery on 960 acres of land with her third husband William Moses. She was visited by many dignitaries, and her wine was served at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton. But in 2008 there was a crisis in the real estate market and Patricia was plagued by bad investments. Then Donald Trump took the opportunity to buy her property for a fraction of the value after it was seized by a bank. Kluge tried to save herself by selling her expensive jewelry and other valuables, but she failed.
Allen Stanford
Financier Allen Stanford (72) is one of the most famous fraudsters, and he earned more than seven billion dollars through the Ponzi scheme. It is a financial fraud that lures investors by promising them abnormally high returns in a short amount of time.
The scheme starts with a fraudster setting up a deposit-taking facility (or bank). The fraudster calls on the public to deposit money with the institution by offering generous interest rates. Interest is then paid from the money of new depositors while the fraudster lives comfortably from old deposits. The whole scheme falls apart when there are no longer enough new deposits to cover interest payments due on old deposits. The scammer tries to disappear before investors find out he cheated on them.
Stanford defrauded more than 18,000 people, many of whom were retirees, and took their savings. Of course, all his money was taken and some victims managed to get him back, and he was sentenced to 110 years in prison.
Jocelyn Wildenstein
Jocelyn Wildenstein (81), who was destroyed by surgery and is nicknamed the Cat Woman, gained fame in the late 90s when she divorced the famous art dealer Alec Wildenstein after 21 years of marriage. In the court case, it was decided that more than two billion dollars of Alec's wealth belongs to her.
But that was clearly not enough for her to last for her lifestyle. Namely, according to the American media, Jocelyn spent a million dollars a month on luxury and paid $ 5,000 for a mobile phone bill. Wildenstein declared bankruptcy in May 2018 and said she had nothing in her bank account. She explained that she survives on $ 900 in social assistance and thanks to the help of her friends and family. She also complained that in the divorce from her late husband Alec, she was promised higher financial compensation and that she received a forged work of art. She also revealed that she is looking for a lawyer to help her find a well-deserved fortune that will last for the rest of her life.
