Iowahippiechick

I didn’t realize that little tidbit of historical financial gossip … but it’s true.  Back in 1656 Rembrandt van Rijn filed bankruptcy.  He was 50 years old, and had accumulated more debt than he could possibly repay.  His house, and many of his paintings, were sold at auction to offset some of the debt.

Phineas Taylor Barnum once filed bankruptcy as well.  It was due to losses in unwise business ventures in 1871.  He eventually went on to successfully create “The Greatest Show on Earth Circus.  Later merging it with James A. Bailey’s circus … creating the well known Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) filed bankruptcy in 1894.  Which discharged all his debts.  But he was determined to pay back all he owed.  He went on a lecture circuit in America and Europe - eventually earning enough to pay back the debt.

And the bankruptcy list goes on:

1. Henry John Heinz
2. Oscar Wilde
3. Milton Snavely Hershey
4. Henry Ford
5. Mickey Rooney
6. Debbie Reynolds
7. Johnny Unitas
8. Jerry Lee Lewis
9. Burt Reynolds
10. Sherman Hemsley
11. Marjorie Margolies Mezvinsky
12. Wayne Newton
13. Kim Basinger
14. MC Hammer
15. Walt Disney
16. Larry King
17. Donald Trump
18. Mike Tyson
19. Sammy Kershaw
20. (I excerpted this information from the Laura Margulies & Associates LLC website.)

  Interesting list, I think.

personal finance