Walt Disney: Oscar - winning film producer, animation & theme park pioneer
Disney did not lose his riches once he had found them, but it was a major struggle to get there in the first place. As a young entrepreneur Walt Disney formed his first animation company in Kansas City in 1921 and made a deal with a distribution company in New York. Flushed with success, Disney began to experiment with new storytelling techniques, but his costs went up and then the distributor went bankrupt. He was also forced to declare bankruptcy in 1923 and at one point could not pay his rent and was surviving on dog food.

Gary Glitter: Glam Rock star
Gary Glitter, the King of Glam Rock, has had an unusual life. After excessive drinking and drug taking in his earlier musical career, he was declared bankrupt in1980. However, Glitter, aka Paul Francis Gadd, says he was only declared bankrupt because ‘somebody didn't fill in the right forms.’ Just as he had begun to turn his life around, Glitter was confronted with allegations of paedophilia, and in 1999 he was convicted for downloading 4,000 child pornography pictures and was listed as a sex offender. Glitter’s reputation was further tarnished when he was permanently evicted from Cambodia in 2002 for suspected child sexual abuse offences.

Oskar Schindler: activist who saved over 1000 Jews from the Nazis
In the 1930s, a young Oskar Schindler changed jobs several times. He also tried various business ventures, but soon went bankrupt because of the Great Depression.
By the end of the war, Schindler had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market supplies for his Jewish workers. Virtually destitute, Schindler did not prosper in post-war Germany, and eventually he emigrated to Argentina in 1948, where he went bankrupt again. Returning to Germany in 1958, Schindler had a series of unsuccessful business ventures. He then settled down in West Germany and tried again - with help from a Jewish organisation - to establish a cement factory. This, too, went bankrupt in 1961.

TLC: R&B/Hip-Hop/Pop group
In 1994, not long before the release of the trio’s second album ‘CrazySexyCool’ (which was to sell over 11 million copies) band member Lisa Lopes was arrested on arson charges. In an alcohol-fuelled fit of rage, Lopes vented all the frustrations from her often-stormy relationship with Andre Rison, burning his Atlanta mansion to the ground and vandalizing several of his cars. In 1995, TLC filed for bankruptcy, claiming debts of over 3.5 million dollars, in part stemming from Lopes' insurance payments over the arson incident.

Kim Basinger: Oscar - winning actress
Extravagant Basinger found herself into trouble when she bought the town of Braselton, Georgia for $20 million. It was around the same time that she dropped out of the movie ‘Boxing Helena’ after expressing concern over nude scenes. Main Line Pictures sued the star of Batman and 9 1/2 Weeks for breach of contract, and the ensuing court case was of Hollywood proportions. The producers' lawyers even tried to stop Basinger having children - as this would diminish the sum they might reclaim. Basinger filed for personal bankruptcy in 1993 and was forced to sell the town of Braselton.

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