Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Darlene, Tennessee — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:24:21 GMT

how could he waste so much money after coming from poverty? talk about EXCESS, it's obscene.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

anthony, new jersey — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:38:05 GMT

You're telling me that a $20 million home is the only reason a man who grossed $200 million in the ring is the reason he's now banbkrupt? His sexual indiscretions, which have yielded so many kids and financial obligations to them, certainly haven't helped by any stretch of the imagination. But don't pretend that this guy wasn't victimized by leaches and thieves (that would include both wives and every women he's evr slept with -- sorry, ladies, but it's probably true), as well, like his accountants and other people who should have been giving him proper advice. $200 million is an awful lot of money to be in the hole for, even if you're spending $50 grand every Christmas to give kids hope for the future. That amount is just a drop in the bucket by comparison.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Matt, Lindenhurst, IL — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:54:48 GMT

I have absolutely NO sympathy for his predicament. Coming from a poor childhood, you would think he would have appreciated and taken care his "fortune" more. It looks like he'll have to start over and at 45, that'll be a feat that will eclipse his climb to the championship.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Chris K Wallingford, PA — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:31:07 GMT

Not surprising but...like Charles Foster Kane, I doubt Holyfield is broke, just out of cash. Even "destitute and bankrupt" Mike Tyson is living in a beautiful upper class home in Arizona with several acres of plasma screen TV's plastered on the walls. Holyfield might be out of funds to live like Louis XIV but compared to even well off regular people, he'll be living a very comfortable life.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

JJ Young, Atlanta, GA — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:44:42 GMT

You think that preacher Creflo Dollar is going to give SOME of the millions Holyfield gave to his church. Maybe faith and fraud are one in the same.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

jeff ,indy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:48:12 GMT

A sad and yet so common tale...see M C Hammer et al.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

MHB, Gaithersburg , Marylan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:51:21 GMT

This is so sad because money does not last forever; he should have budget his funds by downsizing by sales his big estates and get a regular single family home and sales or reinvest properties for residential development. Also, question his baby mother if she got another job because just child support alone will not help in this economy

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Butch Oaktie SC — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:08:46 GMT

Not Surprised. Thats boxing and some of these guys never learn that it all ends sooner than expected. Hopefully there are larger % that plan better.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Abs — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:16:39 GMT

tHATS IS VERY SAD. THIS is the reason why literacy and education (no matter what) is the most important thing life.
Ablaye

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

vic av west point ,ms — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:35:43 GMT

you got to be kitten not holyfield. i thought he was a lot smarter than that. this can't be true

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

DivorcedDadPablo — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:01:07 GMT

Give the guy his kids, and go get a job, you snake!

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Di Werthmuller Fort Smith, AR — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:12:00 GMT

Maybe Mr. Holyfield had a siphoning entourage, not sure, but somehow he is missing some major duckets.
I do not understand how that much money can be missing or how it is even spent.. on what?? Surely he had some tax accountants or financial advisors in the past 20 years. Couldn't he get some tye of endorsement deals now? Maybe a reality show, something, he's still famous enough.
Well, join the crowd, a lot of people in the U.S. are in the same boat right now. Things have a way of cathing up with you sooner or later.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

ye be douchery — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:40:54 GMT

Why do rich people hold mortgages when they can afford to pay the house off. I've never understood that. If you've got the money just pay the house off. If things go sour at least you own your house.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

John C. Mayer — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:53:12 GMT

As a boxing trainer (I was at the Olympic Training Center when Holyfield was an amateur), he was a very humble man, gracious and religious. Holyfield could tell you a lot about boxing but little else.To say he was dumb, no. Naive, yes. One thing most boxers have in common is the big payday. When that comes, elation takes over and the boxer never realizes that the he is only as good as his next fight.Enter the financial vultures "the ones's you can trust" and Evander Holyfield's dilemma is easier to explain. But boxing is only a reflection of a larger world...i.e., Enron,
Lincoln Financial and on and on. Holyfield is not alone when it comes to having other "experts" give you
advice on how to plan for retirement. Many people suffer today that are college educated and have gone from rich to poor.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

John Hampton Atlanta Georgia — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:52:30 GMT

To my fellow Black atheletes. I hate the fact that most of you are just ignorant. You allow people to take advantage because most of you have no idea how money works. Holyfield's problem could have been avoided by making good choices. This man has nine kids, all by different women, who only got pregnant on purpose. Why do you need over 100 rooms and a 10 million dollar house? All black men with millions, ask yourself, would you have the woman or women, if you didn't have the millions. Why can't you think about generational wealth, like the Rockefellers or Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet. Warren Buffet is a Billionaire and he doesn't have a million dollar house nor 20 cars. There is Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard, Suze Orman, David Bach and many others who could tell you about finaces more than your so called accountants and at a much cheaper price. Black atheletes, please read the Millionaire Next Door or maybe perhaps you can talk to Magic Johnson, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, they seem to be wise with their money.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Dave, Columbus, OH — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:25:04 GMT

If Evander Holyfield actually earned $230 million in 20 years, then a $10 million house is not wretched excess -- numerically. It's valued at $10 million, and while that's huge dollars for a house, let's compare it to the rest of us. The average IT guy doing software or databasing makes $80k - $100k/year. He probably lives in a house that cost him $250k - $350k. In 20 years, that IT guy will earn about $2.0 million. If his house is $250k, then his house is about 1/8 of what he earned in eighteen years. Servicing the mortgage and paying insurance and property taxes will consume about 20% of his annual income, give or take a few points.

Evander's house is worth $10 million today; it may have cost less when he had it built. Regardless, his $10 million home is 1/23 of the reported money he's earned over 20 years. Suppose his monthly payment on the property is $80k/month. That's about $1 million/year, and if he averaged $12 million/year in income, then he's still far, far ahead of the typical software developer.

No, the house itself is not the cause of his bankruptcy. I have no trouble believing his financial advisors were sounding alarms about depletion and destitution. I seriously doubt they pointed to the house as the real cause.

If, however, your point is that the house is emblematic of wretched excess without regard to income and net worth, you are right. So, to answer your question directly about athletes and big homes, extrapolated to general expenditure: these people are just as unthinking and innumerate as the average IT guy who buys a lot of house, then borrows to furnish it, and goes on expensive trips, and has two car payments. The athlete is simply visible, and in the case of Holyfield, he has squandered much more in terms of dollars and percentage.

It IS a shame.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

joe doe seattle wa. — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:05:44 GMT

WOW UNBEILIEVABLE

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Lynn George Bakersfield ca — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:07:10 GMT

I would think he could rent out bedrooms & still have enough Privacy since the house is so large.
It would get the bills paid & he would have change left over.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Effigay, Tucson, Arizona — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:44:03 GMT

It is really sad to see this phenomenon of top Black celebreties falling into the same temptation of over spending their earnings, and ending up broke, in the prime of their lives. We've seen this happen to Mike Tyson, Gary Coleman, MC Hammer,just to name a few. when are these individuals going to learn the lesson of munility? I'm beginning to wonder if the NAACP should initiate a program to educate these young, naive, and ostentatious individuals about the values of "sewing one's coat according to one's size". I am so tired of reading about millionaires becoming broke, because they refused to invest wisely. They need to learn the lesson of modesty and maybe they can keep what they worked so hard for, a little longer.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Kim Perkins — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:02:27 GMT

Pardon me but this is not sad. What makes it sad? Because he is a black boxer? Evander is still young enuf to make it in the business world or as an announcer. And at those wages (announcing), he is better off than many people I know, including me. Sad? I ain't cryin. Sad is cancer, heart disease or being born with a severe handicap. Going broke and squandering millions is an opportunity and privilege compared to that stuff.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Eric Monje, Jacksonville, North Carolina — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:35:58 GMT

I don't think Evander's extravagance perhaps eccentricity is obscene. You can't take it with you when you die anyway.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

john ryder — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:36:53 GMT

so i guess there are no white boxers or other white atheletes in other sports that is broke, because you never here about them, always want to throw the black man under the bus, there are some white boxers broke look it up research or whatever, must a racists

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Brian b.McLellan Seattle, Wash. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:45:56 GMT

I really don't see where anyone here is being attacked, it is too bad that John Ryder is looking for some racists to blame things on, but always one in the crowd. Holyfield was a great boxer, he made alot of money, spent alot of money, then has to go back to the real life, it's to bad but true.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Keith, FT Myers FL — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:13:32 GMT

I'm so tired of hearing this story over and over again in the sports world. Something is seriously wrong with the system. I understand that your finances should be your own responsibility but managing millions is much different from managing the few thousand a year that most people are getting. It must be very difficult to find people you can trust for good advice when your income is at that level. Your profession would need to be in Banking and Finance to manage it on your own. This is a tough situation to be in.

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

Manhattan, New York — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:55:58 GMT

It doesn't matter whether you are into sports or other kinds of business, industry and finance. If you don't plan well, no matter how much you make, it will be gone in a twinkle of an eye. It's a dog eat dog out there or as they say “survival of the fittest.” Even when you entrust your finances to the so called financial experts, you are just making them rich. Their goal is how much they can make out of you. Maybe 30% of the time is for your own interest, but the 70% is for their interest.

I can call myself an educated financial person. I have seen my over half a million dollars stock portfolio go down the drain. Its tough other there!

To one on his own!

Let's blame it on Mike Tyson. When he bit Holyfield's eye in their boxing bout, Mike transfered some of his DNA into Holdfield, and since thereafter, Holyfield has slided and gone down the drain like Mike Tyson. That was Mike Tyson's goal -- "I'm gonna make him broke like me."

Holyfield's broke? How did this happen?

believer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:02:57 GMT

Judge not less you be judged.