Billy Bob Harrell Jr. It took Texas native Billie Bob Harrell Jr. less than two years to undo the good fortune that winning 31 million dollars from the Texas jackpot bestowed upon him.
In his case, he was just way too damn nice. After taking his family on vacation, he quit his job, gave money to his church, bought cars and homes for his friends and family, and gave away lots of money to charities. For example, he once donated close to 500 turkeys for poor families. However big his heart was, his ability to manage his wealth wasn’t all that great. Notice a theme here? Here’s a tip: if you ever win the lottery, and have never handled large sums of money before, hire a real, LICENSED professional for financial advice! Don’t let that person be some quote, family friend! Anyways, after good ol’ Billy Bob brokered a deal with a company who paid him a lump sum in exchange for his annual payouts from the lottery, he was left with far less than he actually won. After a divorce left him basically broke, he tragically committed suicide in 1999. According to TIME magazine, he once told a financial adviser that winning the lottery was the worst thing that ever happened to him. What’s the lesson here https://casinoslots-sa.co.za/neteller ? It’s better to have a recurring cash flow, than a lump sum. Never forget that! Michael Carroll In 2002, when 19-year old Michael Carroll won the U.K National Lottery, he garnered something of a celebrity status. Carroll won close to 10 million pounds, or just over 14 million US dollars. His antics garnered him nicknames such as the “lotto lout” or the “King of Chavs” which he actually had engraved into a black Mercedes. After a troubled youth, Carroll found work as a garbage man and was just collecting trash for a living. When he won his massive fortune, Carroll didn’t even have a bank account, so obviously he had no clue about handling any sort of finance whatsoever. Carroll claimed he planned to spend his money frugally and save much of his money. Ummm…...are we supposed to laugh now or later? Spoiler alert, obviously that didn’t happen or else he wouldn’t be on this list, now would he? Instead Carroll became renowned for his partying and gambling habits. Now it’s worth noting that he already had a petty criminal record when he won and was wearing a nice little fashion accessory known as an ankle monitor when he arrived to collect his winnings. I’m just trying to give you a point of reference here on the type of dude we’re talking about here. Carroll went and bought a mansion, one he named “The Grange,” where he threw legendary parties, complete with booze, drugs and prostitutes galore! Oh yeah, he would also hold amatuer demolition derbies in his backyard. Yeah, what the f*ck ran through my mind as well. Believe it or not, throwing the types of parties that would shock even The Wolf of Wall Street or Jay Gatsby tends to attract some pretty nefarious characters. By 2012 he had spent all of his money, was broke as hell, and camping out in the woods! If there’s some sort of a silver lining to somehow blowing through a $14 million fortune, it’s that according to the Huffington Post, he was able to kick his drug habit after losing all of his money. For example, he once claimed that when he was rich, he’d wake up and do a line of coke and wash it down with some beer...the breakfast of champions. The last we hear, he was working at a cookie factory making 300 bucks a week. He told the BBC that he appreciates those wages much more than the fortune he fell a** backwards in. To be honest, I don’t think he’s being real and I think he’s just saying that so people don’t call him dumb, so I call bullsh*t. But in case he WAS sincere, this dude lost all his money, but gained some perspective...that counts for something…..I guess………...psyche!! Last time I checked, perspective doesn’t pay any bills!! Stay savage my friends. Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr. Many of the stories we’ve shared with you here are surprising to say the very least, and on some level, they seem believable. But for someone to lose around THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN million DOLLARS seems next to impossible!! But “next to” is they key word here. Because that’s basically what happened. Let’s go through the insanely stupid steps of blowing 315 million dollars shall we? In 2002, Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr, who I can only assume is named after the colorful seventh President, won the multi-state powerball worth an ungodly amount of money. In fact, Whittaker’s ticket was the largest single winner in the history of the U.S lottery. His first mistake was turning down the annuity that was worth the $315 million and opting for a cash buyout of $170.5 million. After taxes that was worth about $113 million. Good God people PLEASE DO THE MATH!! He then tried to be pretty generous. After he pledged 10 percent of his winnings to Christian charities, he also set up the Jack Whittaker Foundation, using $14 million of his winnings. The foundation benefited food, clothing and shelter to low income families in rural West Virginia. Okay, so Andrew’s a pretty nice fella, huh? No doubt. But was he smart? Welllllll, that’s a different story. While visiting a strip club, he left $545,000 worth of cash in his car. Who are you, Floyd Mayweather?! At least Mayweather has recurring cash flows!! Obviously his car got broken into, and the money was gone. So that’s over half a milly gone right there. Apparently he didn't learn his lesson because months later, his car was broken into again and thieves made off with $200,000 in cash. Dude, come on, how dumb ARE you? Sadly things only got worse. His granddaughter's 18-year old boyfriend lied when he OD’d at Whittaker’s house in 2004. A few months later the granddaughter also lied under mysterious circumstances at a friend's house. The case was never solved. He would go on to be charged with a DUI in 2005, and developed a bit of a gambling habit. He bounced a 1.5 million check at a casino in Atlantic City. And just as icing on the cake, his home caught fire in December of 2016. It turned out that he had never insured the home...so it was a total loss. Seriously? No Insurance? I think my head just exploded. No matter how well intended he might have been, Whittaker didn’t manage his winnings very well,and whatever may be leftover will soon be gone if he doesn’t get it together! Now if I had to bet half my net worth on what’s gonna happen, it’s for sure on him back to being broke.
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Joyleen MkakaStudent and a blogger. I write about all things fresh and natural. Regular contributor to www.dobremylo.com ArchivesCategories |