Stars who went broke and rebuilt property fortunes

A-list celebrity status, multimillion-dollar paycheques and global fame offer no guarantee against financial ruin.

From bad investments and lavish spending to tax battles and predatory management deals, some of the world’s biggest names have faced jaw-dropping debts.

Yet, for many stars who hit rock bottom, real estate proved to be both their ultimate undoing and their greatest financial salvation.

Here is how these celebrities lost everything and built back massive property portfolios.

Meat Loaf (Michael Lee Aday)

Peak Debt: $US80m ($A120m) in lawsuits

Current Net Worth: $US40m ($A60m) at time of death

Despite his 1977 album Bat Out of Hell becoming one of the best-selling records in history with more than 44 million copies sold, rocker Meat Loaf saw little of the initial profits.

Severe vocal cord injuries, contractual disputes, and a barrage of 45 lawsuits totalling $US80m ($A113m) forced him into bankruptcy in 1983.

Meat Loaf spent a decade touring tirelessly to clear his legal obligations.

In 1993, he released Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, featuring the global hit I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That), which earned him a Grammy and tens of millions in royalties.

With his earnings restored, Meat Loaf invested heavily in California real estate.

The singer bought a 0.6ha luxury estate in Calabasas for $US3m ($A4.2m), complete with a swimming pool and private grounds.

He later sold the property for $US3.1m ($A4.4m) before relocating to Texas.

Donald Trump

Peak Debt: $US3.4bn ($A5.1bn) corporate debt

Current Net Worth: $US7bn ($A9.9bn)

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Donald Trump’s real estate and casino empire stood on the brink of total collapse.

Massive bank loans used to buy Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal casino, Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel and Trump Shuttle airlines triggered the collapse.

MORE: ‘Hell’: Duran Duran star exposes sad demise

‘Empty’: Attenborough’s lonely life at 100

‘Really sick’ 80s star looks incredible at 64

It left his businesses buried under $US3.4bn ($5.1bn) in corporate debt, alongside $US800m ($1.2bn) in personal guarantees.

Through intense negotiations with major lenders, Trump avoided personal bankruptcy by surrendering his airline, his 282-foot yacht and 50 per cent of his stake in the Plaza Hotel.

He restructured his holdings, leveraged his brand through licensing deals and reality television, and pivoted heavily into high-yielding golf courses and prime luxury real estate.

Trump’s crowning real estate asset is Mar-a-Lago, the 126-room Palm Beach estate he purchased in 1985 for approximately $US10m ($A15m).

Today, analysts estimate the private club is worth over $US350m ($A497m).

His portfolio also features a multi-level penthouse inside Manhattan’s Trump Tower, valued at more than $US50m ($A71m).

It sits alongside luxury golf resorts across the US, Europe and the Middle East.

50 Cent (Curtis Jackson)

Peak Debt: $US32.5m ($A48.7m)

Current Net Worth: $US40m ($A60m)

Despite earning an estimated $US100m ($A140m) from his Vitaminwater investment and music sales, hip-hop mogul 50 Cent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015.

Court filings revealed he was buried under more than $US32.5m ($48.7m) in debt.

The financial spiral was driven by personal living costs of $US108,000 a month alongside costly legal losses, including a$US7m ($10.5m) sex-tape lawsuit and a $US17m ($25.5m) dispute with a headphone company.

Jackson executed a structured, court-approved five-year bankruptcy repayment plan, paying off $US23m ($A32m) in debt in under two years.

He rebuilt his fortune through television production, co-creating and executive producing the hit Power franchise, alongside brand endorsements and smart real estate liquidation.

Central to his bankruptcy resolution was offloading his legendary 52-room Farmington, Connecticut mansion, previously owned by boxer Mike Tyson.

Jackson bought the estate for $US4.1m ($A5.8m) in 2003, spending millions to add a private nightclub and cinema.

He later offloaded the property in 2019 for $US2.9m ($A4.1m) and donated the proceeds to charity.

The rapper now owns an expansive commercial and residential footprint in Houston, Texas, home to his G-Unit Film and Television studio complex.

Mike Tyson

Peak Debt: $US23m ($34.5m)

Current Net Worth: $US10m ($15m)

Former heavyweight champion of the world Mike Tyson accumulated more than $US400m ($A568m) in career ring earnings, only to file for bankruptcy in 2003 owing $US23m ($A32m).

Lavish spending sprees on pet Siberian tigers, luxury cars and jewellery lines started the bleed.

Paired with a costly divorce and unpaid tax bills, his $US400m ($600m) fortune was completely wiped out.

Tyson rebuilt his life and bank balance through acting cameos in films such as The Hangover, a Broadway show and podcasting.

Exhibition boxing bouts and his cannabis enterprise, Tyson 2.0, also helped revive his fortune.

Tyson was forced to sell his massive 2322sq m Southington, Ohio estate, which featured an indoor pool and tiger cages before being converted into a church.

He also sold his Farmington mansion to fellow star 50 Cent

Tyson now lives in a $US2.5m ($A3.7m), seven-bedroom estate in a gated community near Las Vegas.

The Henderson property features an Italian marble courtyard and a resort-style pool.

Robert Downey Jr.

Peak Debt: Near-financial insolvency (Late 1990s)

Current Net Worth: $US300m ($450m)

By the late 1990s, Robert Downey Jr. was practically unemployable due to severe substance addiction, multiple arrests, and prison time.

Unpaid legal bills, treatment facilities, and lost acting contracts brought him to the edge of personal insolvency, leaving him uninsurable for major film productions.

After achieving sobriety in 2003, Downey staged one of the greatest career comebacks in Hollywood history.

Cast as Tony Stark in Marvel’s Iron Man in 2008, he went on to earn upwards of $US75m per film for later Avengers instalments, capped by an Oscar-winning performance in Oppenheimer.

Downey channelled his Marvel earnings into an architectural real estate portfolio.

His main home is the historic $US13.4m Edward DeRose Windmill House in East Hampton, New York.

He also owns a futuristically designed $US3.8m ($A5.4m) eco-friendly compound in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean, which houses his personal animal rescue sanctuary.

Kim Basinger

Peak Debt: $US8.1m ($A12.1m) legal judgment

Current Net Worth: $US10m ($A15m)

Kim Basinger, who played Bruce Wayne’s love interest, Vicki Vale, faced a major financial disaster due to her real estate investments.

In 1989, at the height of her Batman fame, the Oscar winner spent $US20m ($A29m) to buy nearly 1,700 acres of land in Braselton, Georgia.

The L.A. Confidential star hoped to turn the area into a big tourist and film destination, but the project failed and became a financial drain.

The Oscar-winner’s money problems worsened after she was sued for $US8.9m ($A12.9m) for backing out of the 1992 movie Boxing Helena.

Unable to pay, the actress filed for bankruptcy in 1993. Eventually, she settled the lawsuit for $US3.8m ($5.5m) and sold her land at a loss to rebuild her finances.

Now worth $US10m ($A15m), the 72-year-old’s current portfolio includes a residence in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, which she acquired for $150,000 in the late 1970s.

Basinger also previously invested $US540,000 ($A783,000) in a Woodland Hills home in 2001, which she later placed on the market in 2017 with an asking price slightly under $US1m ($1.5m).

Don Johnson

Peak Debt: $US14.5m ($21.7m)

Current Net Worth: $US50m ($75m)

Don Johnson faced a severe financial crisis in 2004 when a bank attempted to auction off his 6.8ha Colorado ranch to settle a $US9.3m ($A13.2m) debt.

The Miami Vice star filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to halt the foreclosure, reporting total debts of about $US14.5m ($A20.6m).

Johnson resolved the bankruptcy by securing fresh financing to clear his bank debt in full.

He then won a massive $US23.2m ($A33m) legal judgment in 2010 against production companies over profits from his hit 1990s television show Nash Bridges.

After settling his debts and selling his Woody Creek ranch in Aspen, Johnson turned his attention to California coastal real estate.

He bought a luxury Montecito estate, which he later sold for $US14.9m ($A21.1m), and now resides in an equestrian farm property in Santa Barbara.

Toni Braxton

Peak Debt: $US50m ($75m)

Current Net Worth: $US10m ($15m)

Despite selling more than 40 million records, R & B superstar Toni Braxton has filed for bankruptcy twice.

Her first Chapter 7 filing in 1998 stemmed from a brutal record deal paying her less than 35c per album.

In 2010, she filed a second bankruptcy with debts estimated up to $US50m ($A71m) after health issues forced her to cancel her Las Vegas residency.

Braxton reclaimed her financial independence through her hit reality series Braxton Family Values, continued international touring, and new album releases.

During her second bankruptcy, Braxton lost her $US2.6m ($A3.6m) home in the gated enclave of The Oaks in Calabasas, California.

Following her financial recovery, she bought a $US3m ($4.5m) mansion in the exclusive Hidden Hills enclave near the Kardashian family.

She later sold it at a profit to downsize into luxury Los Angeles apartments.

MC Hammer (Stanley Burrell)

Peak Debt: $US13.7m ($A20.5m)

Current Net Worth: $US2m ($A3m)

At the peak of his U Can’t Touch This success in 1991, MC Hammer earned more than $US33m ($A49m) a year.

Maintaining a 200-person entourage, 21 racehorses and a lavish $US30m ($45m) California mega-mansion started the rapid bleed.

When his album sales plunged in 1996, the rap icon was left buried under $US14m ($21m) in debt.

Hammer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 and sold off his mega-mansion.

He transformed into an investor, technology adviser, and internet entrepreneur, lecturing at Harvard and investing in early tech start-ups.

Hammer’s Fremont estate featured a 17-car garage, two swimming pools (one shaped like his signature pants), a baseball diamond, and gold-plated gates.

The rapper was forced to sell his dream home for just $US6.5m ($A9.7m) – $US5.5m ($A8.2m) less than he originally paid for it.

Hammer now lives in a modest, mortgage-free home in Tracy, California.

MORE: ‘Awful’: I Dream of Jeannie star sad life at 95

Momoa’s $15m Sam Neil payout to be near Aus

‘I left’: Tragic curse of Power Rangers stars