Thousands of people go bankrupt every day during recessions, and they have never been lower!
In this Entrepreneurs List of Billionaires With the Most Bankruptcies, I feature individuals who have overcome adversity and triumphed over it. They inspire me, and I hope you feel the same way about them. Tough times never endure, but tough people do.
I once heard that being a real entrepreneur requires going bankrupt at least once!
Walt Disney, on the other hand, was fired by a newspaper editor because he had no creativity and no clever ideas. He went bankrupt several times before building Disneyland. In fact, the city of Anaheim denied his planned park because it would only attract riffraff.
Both the founder of Penthouse and Perez Hilton, a web entrepreneur, are on my list! The distinction between them and the other people on the list is that their money is fresh cash made in the last ten years!
30 Entrepreneurs Who Went Bankrupt
| Name | Birthdate | Profession | Bankruptcy Date | Eventual Net Worth |
| Henry Ford | July 30, 1863 | Founder of Ford Motor | 1903 | $188,000,000,000 |
| Donald Trump | June 14, 1946 | Real Estate Developer | 1990 | $3,000,000,000 |
| Walt Disney | December 5, 1901 | Founder of Disney | 1921 | $1,100,000,000 |
| Anna Nicole Smith | November 28, 1967 | Model, Actress | 1996 | $450,000,000 |
| H.J. Heinz | October 11, 1844 | Founder of Heinz | 1875 | $400,000,000 |
| George Foreman | January 5, 1949 | Boxer/Grill Spokesman | 1983 | $300,000,000 |
| Bob Guccione | December 17, 1930 | Founder of Penthouse | 2003 | $400,000,000 |
| Kim Basinger | December 8, 1953 | Actress | 1993 | $250,000,000 |
| Clarence Saunders | August 9, 1881 | Founder of Piggly Wigglies (Now Safeway) | 1922 | $180,000,000 |
| Milton Hershey | September 13, 1857 | Founder of Hershey | 1880 | $150,000,000 |
| Larry King | November 19, 1933 | News Anchor | 1978 | $144,000,000 |
| William C. Durant | December 8, 1861 | Founder of General Motors and Chevrolet | 1936 | $120,000,000 |
| Ulysses S. Grant | April 27, 1822 | President | 1881 | $95,100,000 |
| Francis Ford Coppola | April 7, 1939 | Film Director | 1990 | $67,400,000 |
| Isaac Hayes | August 20, 1942 | Singer, Actor | 1976 | $50,000,000 |
| MC Hammer | March 30, 1962 | Rapper | 1996 | $33,000,000 |
| Wayne Newton | April 3, 1942 | Singer, Actor | 1992 | $30,000,000 |
| Burt Reynolds | February 11, 1936 | Actor | 1996 | $30,000,000 |
| P.T. Barnum | July 5, 1810 | Showman | 1856 | $25,000,000 |
| Mick Fleetwood | June 24, 1947 | Musician, Activist |
1984
|
$25,000,000 |
| Randy Quaid | October 1, 1950 | Actor |
2000
|
$25,000,000 |
| Stan Lee | December 28, 1922 | Founder of Marvel |
2000
|
$20,000,000 |
| Abraham Lincoln | February 12, 1809 | President |
1833
|
$18,400,000 |
| John Connally | February 27, 1917 | Governor of Texas |
1988
|
$11,000,000 |
| Heidi Fleiss | December 30, 1965 | Hollywood Madame | 1998 | $10,000,000 |
| Perez Hilton | March 23, 1978 | Blogger | 2005 | $10,000,000 |
| Buffalo Bill | February 26, 1846 | Showman |
1913
|
$8,000,000 |
| William McKinley | January 29, 1843 | President |
1893
|
$7,500,000 |
| Jerry Lee Lewis | September 29, 1935 | Singer, Songwriter, Pianist | 1988 | $5,000,000 |
| Benedict Arnold | January 14, 1741 | Major General |
1779
|
$2,500,000 |