Ex-Millionaires Are Revealing How They Lost All Their Money, And I'm Actually Speechless

June 26, 2024 DINARRECAPS8

BuzzFeed Tue, June 25, 2024

Reaching millionaire status is a feat people dream of achieving. But unfortunately, having millions of dollars doesn't mean you're invincible, as evidenced by redditor u/HypnoticMushrooms, who asked people to share how they or someone they knew became an "ex-millionaire." I'm genuinely surprised at how some of these people weren't responsible with their money. Here are some of the most insightful stories:

1."COVID-19. I built a business that was given a valuation of a few million back in January, but the industry went down, and I'm doing all I can now to avoid bankruptcy."

2."I dated a guy who unexpectedly inherited $6 million. His parents had been killed in a drunk driving accident when he was a baby, and so their life insurance and money from a legal settlement sat in an account collecting interest for 18 years. He got a call from a lawyer on his 18th birthday, and that's how he found out about it. He went nuts. Every time I saw him, he had a new car.

He bought an extravagant house and insisted on taking these big vacations. He would go to our local comic shop and buy EVERYTHING. His spending was a major factor in why we broke up. It was all too much, watching him blow through money like that. He didn't invest any of it. He blew through all his money in five years. Last I saw him on Facebook, he was destitute."

3."I built a business worth around $3 million, had a house worth $1.4 million, investments worth more than $2 million, and had four nice cars. Divorce laid me low. An ex-wife, a lawyer, and a judge stripped me of at least 75% of that. I was left with a Miata race car, a bit of money, and 51% of my company.

And I still had to pay alimony. I gave up. I negotiated my way out of alimony by giving up more of the company and liquidating everything else.

I bought a boat and fucked off. 26 months later, I sailed back into my life and started over. I've earned enough to live a modest retirement, and that's where I am today. Don't get married, boys. I've done it twice. The first time was a disaster, and the second time was an annoyance. Just my opinion and experience."

4."A family member of mine did very well in tech. He was an incredibly smart physicist but a horrible businessman. He retired, having made his millions, then bought a beautiful antique yacht. 10 years later, he's in debt and has struggled to sell the boat for years. His family is so pissed at him. TL;DR: don't buy a boat.

5."I was close to being a millionaire after selling my company to a bigger competitor. I reinvested most of it since I didn't have much use for the money, but then I got scammed for about half a million on buying some real estate.

I basically bought a fantastic holiday destination facility from someone who did not own said fantastic holiday destination facility. And by 'bought,' I mean that I'd put a substantial down payment to keep other interested parties at bay. Classic."

6."My grandfather died and left everything to my mom. Then, my father died and left everything to my mom. Mom always thought she was a smart gambler that would win. As proof, she won maybe $25k from the lottery once and went out and bought a car. After that, she was hooked. When Dad was alive, he didn't let her gamble; he kept it under control. After he died, my mom found a boyfriend — a former bookie who was a 'professional' gambler.

They used to like going to casinos, squandering every penny and more. Then, my mom sold the big house for another $500k and bought a small condo. She took out a home improvement loan for it for $50k, but no improvements were ever made. Casinos and lottery tickets. A cool million or two gone."