6 Millionaires Who Ended Up Being Poor

Every week plenty of websites, magazines and weekly papers list out the names of top Millionaires in the world. These lists can vary from one source to another depending upon a lot of factors. The fact that globalization and liberalization has led to a significant increase in the earning potential of people, lots of people can be seen touching great heights of success in their lives. But have you seen any magazine or website providing you the information on those millionaires whose luxurious life was only short lived? Not yet! In this article, we’ll talk about them. We’ll see what made them lose their money and how it affected their lives.


Fantasies of a tycoon lifestyle appear to have a propensity of turning sour faster than a sub-prime contract. Detachment, drugs, crime, prison are some factors that lead to failure for those who fail to adjust, as this list shows:


1. Jack WhittakerBorn in 1947 in West Virginia, Andrew Jackson Whittakar won a lottery of $314.9millions in 2002 on Powerball jackpot. However, exactly after one year of winning the lottery the life of Jack took a U-turn for no reason. Thefts, arrests, lawsuits, death of his granddaughter and broken relationships became an integral part of his life. He nearly lost all the money he won in the lottery and in 2007, his wife admitted that the lottery prize brought nothing, but curse to her family.


2. William Post

William Post was the winner of $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988. His experience after winning the money was no less than a nightmare for him. He later regretted that the event like that even happened to his life. He was sued by his ex-wife for a share in the money and his brother tried to kill him by hiring a hitman, so he could inherit the winning prize. Within a year of the lottery winning, he was $1million in debt. He hardly enjoyed the money he won. But at the same time, he faced a lot of trouble only for winning the money.

3. Janite Lee

Janite Lee is another lottery winner from Wales who also comes under the category of Millionaires who ended up being poor. She is a rare lottery winner who chose to spend most part of her wealth on others than herself. After moving into a million-dollar gated community in St. Louis with her family, she spent more than $620,000 on philanthropic efforts. Her political contributions and educational donations got her good recognition in the society. However, in less than a decade she filed for bankruptcy to put her debts to rest. In 2007 she filed for Chapter 7. At that time she had less than $700 in her name and debts of $2.5 million.


4. Callie Rogers


Callie Rogers, a British teenager won $3 million in July 2003. She spent all her money in making her closed ones happy. She showered her friends and family with fancy cars, vacations, lavish homes and all kind of luxurious gifts, one can ever imagine. She also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on partying, designer clothing, breast implants and all the entertainment things she would have want to enjoy as a teenager. But in 2009, she reported to have facing bankruptcy and attempted suicide twice. Later, she was found working on 3 cleaning jobs to meet the ends.

5. Michael Carroll

Michael Carroll won $15.5 million in 2002. He was just 19 at the age of lottery winning and spent most of his money is satisfying his urges. He began with showering his friends and family with gifts and later busted all his money in drugs, alcohol, gambling and prostitutes. As per the reports, Michael used to smoke more than $3000 worth of cocaine daily. In merely 8 years he lost all his winning money and went off to living off his life on $67 per week unemployment benefits.

6. Ken Proxmire

Ken Proxmire was a machinist who won $1 million in the Michigan lottery. After winning the lottery he moved to California and invested in a car business with his brothers. However, his luxury was short lived and merely five years later, he was bankrupt and went back working as a machinist. In an interview his son said, “Dad is more happy and content working as a machinist. Now there are no more talks about riding a helicopter and buying limos”