If there is one comforting thought for someone who is contemplating bankruptcy, it is to think about the many famous and even infamous people who became bankrupt at one time or another or even repeatedly over the course of their lives. Some of these people had already achieved fame or infamy for their accomplishments before they were adjudged bankrupt. Others of them became famous after they had endured the stigma of bankruptcy and were able to make a fresh start in their lives.
No occupation was spared and no status or perceived status in society afforded escape from the ignominy of the label ‘bankrupt’. What is remarkable is the level of achievement to which these people aspired and their ultimate accomplishments. Of course a key factor is the country where the bankruptcy occurred. In the USA emerging from bankruptcy was almost like a badge of honour and for many who were able to overcome that burden and go on to achieve success, it was as if their status in society was doubly enhanced in the land of the American dream.
Let us then begin by dropping a few names and asking what these businessmen had in common. Tyre manufacturer Charles Goodyear as well as automobile manufacturers Henry Ford, John DeLorean and William C. Durant, founder of General Motors, had more in common than cars. Yes, they were all bankrupt at some stage in their business careers, as was Henry John Heinz, condiment manufacturer par excellence and founder of H. J. Heinz the global food conglomerate.
Bankruptcy is not confined to men either. Singers Chaka Kahn, Cyndi Lauper, Natalie Cole, Toni Braxton and Tammy Wynette as well as actresses Barbara Bel Geddes, Debbie Reynolds and Kim Basinger all wore the bankruptcy badge of honour at one stage or another. Mind you, in the singing and acting professions men dominated the bankruptcy league by sheer weight of numbers.
Singers Al Jolson, Andy Gibb, David Van Day, Jerry Lee Lewis, Marvin Gaye, MC Hammer, Meat Loaf, Mick Fleetwood, Tom Petty and Willie Nelson had bankruptcy in common with actors Mickey Rooney, Gary Coleman, Don Johnson, Buster Keaton, Burt Reynolds and Bill Roache, otherwise known as Ken in Coronation Street.
Famous sportsmen who also suffered from this ultimate financial stigma include Bjorn Borg, Chris Eubank, George Best, Mike Tyson and of course Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards, although Eddie’s claim to fame or infamy might be a bit spurious.
The arts were not immune to bankruptcy either. If someone were to ask you what Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Daniel Defoe, Miguel de Cervantes, Frank Baum, Handel, Isaac Hayes, Rembrandt, James Abbot McNeil Whistler, Lionel Bart and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had in common other than being authors, composers, artists and painters, would you have guessed that they also were all once bankrupt? Historian David Irving could be included in that category also.
Even royalty and presidents did not escape the scourge. Philip II King of Spain, Edward II a fourteenth century King of England and American Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln all suffered from financial difficulties resulting in their bankruptcies.
The entertainment industry furnishes us with the names of a few more famous bankrupts: Henry Saltzman, film producer, Larry King, talk show host, Jim Davison, comedian, Michael Barrymore, TV presenter, P.T.Barnum the great American circus owner were all great entertainers in their own right and perhaps the same accolade might be bestowed by some on Anna-Nicole Smith famous for being a Playboy centerfold, at least for a month.
Perhaps the most poignant member of the big ‘B’ club was Henry Dunant founder of the Red Cross, whose philanthropic good works did not spare him from the ultimate financial ignominy.
While bankruptcy is one of those conditions that you would not wish on your worst enemy, it is nowadays a much less severe and constricting process than it once was, particularly in the USA and in the UK. New bankruptcy legislation is being formulated in the Republic of Ireland at present and the final draft of a new insolvency bill is scheduled to be published before the end of April 2012. Whether it has any crumbs of comfort for the financially beleaguered remains to be seen but the feeling among many insolvency professionals in Ireland is that it will not provide a fresh start to entrepreneurs but will still seek to punish transgressors, albeit perhaps a little less severely than the current archaic and draconian legislation in that jurisdiction continues to do.