1) Donald trump
It may not seem like Donald Trump has Money trouble these days, but at one point, Mr. Trump was swamped with financial problems. In fact, he was almost broke and in need of debt relief. At one point Trump racked up $900 million in debt and 3 of his casinos went bankrupt. The repo men came and took his yacht. Adding insult to injury, his lovely ex wife also managed to take his $14 million mansion in a divorce. Next time maybe he’ll think before he gets with some young hot girl…wait never mind.
Presently Trump is doing just dandy. His current projected worth is $2.5 billion. We’re not including his $1.8 billion in debts and other various failed ventures. Still, he’ll find a way to make ends meet
2) Thomas Jefferson
Ben Franklin was quoted as saying “I’d rather go to bed without supper than rise in debt”. Thomas Jefferson should have taken a page from Franklin’s book. When Jefferson left office in 1809 he had a wine bill of $10,000. If you think that’s a lot today imagine what that was like back then. One can only imagine what his other petty expenses might be.
Let’s not forget his extravagant mansion, Monticello. This project took around 40 years to accomplish. It might have been a 43 bedroom master piece, but it helped Mr. Jefferson accrue $107,000 in debt.
When Jefferson died, all his possessions (including the 130 slaves) were auctioned off to pay for his debts.
3) Henry Ford
Known as a manufacturing genius, Henry Ford didn’t get it right the first few tries. Ford’s first company went bankrupt. The second company wasn’t so hot either. It dissolved due to a dispute with his partner. The third try was a charm, but almost didn’t make it. Ford started The Ford Motor Company with $28,000 in cash. In the summer of 1903 the bank balance was a mere $223. Luckily Mr. Ford wound up selling his first car and…well… we all know what happened after that.
4) Milton Snavely Hershey
The Hershey name might remind of us of sweet chocolaty goodness, but like Mr. Henry Ford mentioned above, his first business endeavors didn’t work out so well. Unlike Ford, it took Hershey 5 tries to get it right. The first 4 candy companies Hershey started went bankrupt. Keep in mind the highest grade he completed was 4th grade, not too shabby. On his fifth attempt, Hershey created the Hershey Company. After that he found the golden ticket, Willy Wonka style.
