If you’re feeling alone or depressed because of financial problems, cheer up! You’re in very good company. Below is a list of some of the famous people (including four U.S. Presidents!) who have filed for bankruptcy or had severe financial problems before the modern bankruptcy code was adopted. Please note that most of these folks had their great success and fame after their bankruptcies.
- Donald Trump, financier
- Michael Jackson, singer
- La Toya Jackson, rock star
- Chaka Kahn, rock star
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer
- Richard Wagner, opera composer
- Tammy Wynette, country music star
- Johnny Paycheck, country music star
- Tom Petty, rock star
- MC Hammer, rap singer
- Merle Haggard, country music star
- Willie Nelson, country singer
- Cyndi Lauper, rock star
- Wayne Newton, “Mr. Las Vegas”
- Toni Braxton, rock star
- Jerry Lee Lewis, rock singer
- Mick Fleetwood, member of rock group Fleetwood Mac
- Merle Haggard, country singer
- Kim Basinger, actress
- John Wayne, actor
- Burt Reynolds, actor
- Gary Coleman, actor and star of TV show Diff’rent Strokes
- Lorraine Bracco, star of The Sopranos
- Debbie Reynolds, actress (and mother of Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia of Star Wars)
- Don Johnson, actor-producer
- Larry King, talk-show host; best-selling American author
- Oscar Wilde, playwright
- Francis Ford Coppola, Oscar-winning film writer-director-producer
- Mark Twain, humorist
- L. Frank Baum, author of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”
- Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse
- Stan Lee, comic book industry pioneer; co-creator of “Spider Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The X-Men,” etc.
- Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States
- Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
- Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States and Civil War general
- Harry S Truman, 35th President of the United States
- Charles Goodyear, founder of the Goodyear Tire Company
- Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company
- PT Barnum, circus promoter
- Johnny Unitas, football player
- Mike Tyson, boxer
- Dorothy Hamill, figure skater
- Bowie Kuhn, former baseball commissioner
- Michael Vick, American football player
- Millions of Americans, including (based on the numbers) at least three people you know personally — even if you don’t realize it