10 Former Billionaires Who Are Now Broke 

It’s tough to make and keep a fortune. Over the past few decades, several billionaires have seen their wealth evaporate within months. 

These financial downfalls often stem from illegal activities like money laundering and stock manipulation, but sometimes they’re due to economic crises.

These financial downfalls often stem from illegal activities like money laundering and stock manipulation, but sometimes they’re due to economic crises.

Despite recoveries fueled by governmental and central bank interventions, some billionaires have faced ruin and never regained their fortunes.

Here are some notable examples of billionaires who ended up broke:

10. Huang Wenji

Sector: Finance

Peak Wealth: $1.9 billion.

Lost: He lost nearly all his wealth when his company’s stock fell 91% in two days in 2017.

Chairman of umbrella-making China Jicheng Holdings, Huang saw his company’s stock plummet, erasing his $1.9 billion fortune due to the volatile Hong Kong stock market.

9. Alberto Vilar

Sector: Finance

Peak Wealth: Estimated at $1 billion.

Lost: Lost all due to securities fraud, and subsequent legal and financial issues.

The former investment manager’s company, Amerindo Investment Advisors, prospered until a 2000 market crash. Arrested in 2005 for securities fraud, Vilar was convicted and sentenced to a decade in prison.

8. Adolf Merckle

Sector: Finance

Peak Wealth: $12.8 billion.

Lost: Lost $3.6 billion in the 2008 crisis and faced additional financial issues leading to his suicide.

German billionaire Adolf Merckle lost a significant portion of his wealth during the 2008 crisis. His firm faced a liquidity crisis, and after a series of risky bets failed, Merckle tragically ended his life.

7. Vijay Mallya

Sector: Aviation

Peak Wealth: $1.5 billion.

Lost: Lost his fortune due to the failure of Kingfisher Airlines and other financial mismanagements, leading to massive debts.

Known as India’s “King of Good Times,” Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines amassed enormous debts, leading to his loss of control over United Spirits. Fleeing to the UK, he now faces extradition to India for financial crimes.

6. Seán Quinn

Sector: Finance

Peak Wealth: $6 billion.

Lost: Lost almost all his wealth due to the financial crisis affecting his banking investments, culminating in bankruptcy in 2011.

Ireland’s richest man in 2005, Quinn lost his fortune due to banking crisis impacts on his investments, including hefty fines and bankruptcy.

5. Bernard Madoff

Sector: Finance

Peak Wealth: Not specifically quantified, but amassed billions through a Ponzi scheme.

Lost: Revealed to have defrauded investors of $64.8 billion when his scheme collapsed.

Madoff, orchestrator of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, was arrested in 2008. His scam collapsed during the financial crisis, revealing a $64.8 billion fraud.

4. Elizabeth Holmes

Sector: Technology

Peak Wealth: Theranos was valued at $9 billion.

Lost: Personal wealth went from being valued as a billionaire to zero following revelations about Theranos’ fraudulent practices.

Elizabeth Holmes, once a celebrated billionaire through her company Theranos, faced federal scrutiny over misleading claims about her blood-testing technology. Her fortune was revised to zero by Forbes.

3. Allen Stanford

Sector: Finance

Peak Wealth: Managed assets worth $8.5 billion through his financial services.

Lost: Convicted of orchestrating an $8 billion Ponzi scheme, leading to a prison sentence and loss of all assets.

Stanford, who ran a vast Ponzi scheme through Stanford Financial Group, was sentenced in 2009 to 110 years for massive financial fraud.

2. Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson

Sector: Finance

Peak Wealth: $1.1 billion.

Lost: Went bankrupt following the Icelandic banking crisis, with personal wealth dropping to zero.

The Icelandic banking crisis wiped out Gudmundsson’s fortune, built through a major stake in Landsbanki. He declared bankruptcy in 2009.

1. Eike Batista

Sector: Mining and Oil Exploration

Peak Wealth: $30 billion.

Lost: He lost nearly all of his wealth due to the collapse of his companies in the mining and oil industries. His wealth plummeted to negative figures after massive debts.

Brazilian businessman Eike Batista made and then lost a multi-billion-dollar fortune in the mining and oil exploration industry over a period of two decades. Arrested in 2017, he faced charges in a major corruption investigation.