It is never fun filing for bankruptcy, but sometimes, it’s the only option you can think of. The following companies and individuals faced rough times and while some managed to walk out with dignity, the others were not as lucky.
1. Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. succumbed to the subprime mortgage crisis and became the biggest bankruptcy filing in history. The 158-year-old firm, filed a Chapter 11 petition with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on September 15, 2008. The collapse of Lehman, which Pre-Bankruptcy Assets were more than US $639-billion. Lehman was forced into bankruptcy after Barclays PLC and Bank of America Corp. abandoned takeover talks.
2. Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual (WaMu), was a savings bank holding company and the former owner of Washington Mutual Bank, which was the United States’ largest savings and loan association until it became the largest bank failure in U.S. history for the time. WaMu, the 119-year-old Seattle-based thrift, sought Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on September 26, 2008 and according to court records WaMu listed more than 327.9 billion in assets in its bankruptcy filing.
3. WorldCom
WorldCom, founded in 1983 as LDDS Communications, the nation’s second-largest long-distance company and the largest handler of Internet data, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 21, 2002. The WorldCom filing had been anticipated since the company disclosed in late June that it had improperly accounted for more than $3.8 billion of expenses. The WorldCom filing listed more than $107 billion in assets.
4. General Motors
GM’s bankruptcy filing is the forth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The company said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets. After the Chapter 11 filing, effective June 8, 2009, GM was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average and replaced by Cisco Systems.
5. CIT Group
Lender CIT Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 1, 2009 with listed $71 billion assets in its bankruptcy filing. Disruptions in the credit markets coupled with the global economic deterioration led to bankruptcy filling that also took other biggest financial institutions. The lender funded about 1 million businesses across US, Canada, Europe and Asia.
Until recently, he was the top-salaried CEO in the San Francisco Bay area, taking home a whopping $56.8 million per year, however beginning in 2008 his annual paycheck now amounts exactly $1. As published in documents made public by the US Securities Commission, for the next three years, he will be eligible to receive an annual bonus of up to one million shares, in addition to the option to purchase an extra six million shares at the fixed price of $31.59 each. This incentive for retention was approved by the board of directors of the company under its management compensation agreements.
One of the original founders of Google, until 2005 he received market-competitive salaries however has since opted to turn down his formerly enormous pay package, receiving only $1 per year. Of course, he is compensated in the form of company shares.
Also a founder of Google, after 2005 Brin decided to go the same route as his colleague and friend Larry Page. He now takes home a paltry $1 per year though that amount is fattened somewhat by shares in a little company that you might have heard of, Google.
The CEO of Apple Inc., Jobs was the first CEO in the world to accept a $1 per year salary, setting the trend. He has been talking $1 as his annual salary for a number of years already, despite several other Apple executives still pulling in fat yearly paychecks. Jobs did receive, however, an outright compensation package of a million restricted shares in the company and is now the owner of approximately 1.2% of Apple’s outstanding shares.
Yet another Google boss who receives a salary of $1 per year. Just like Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Schmidt made the decision after 2005 to trade in the generous paychecks for a package of company stock, based upon the over all performance of Google on the market.
Everybody knows who Harry Potter is and hence, everybody knows who Daniel Radcliffe is. He has been nominated for countless awards since the first movie and has won as many! He was a part of Equus, a stage show, for which he was nominated for the prestigious Drama Desk Award. Daniel Radcliffe is one of the wealthiest young men in Britain with a net worth of $60 million.
After the massive success of the Harry Potter movies, Emma Watson who plays the role of Hermione Granger practically became a superstar overnight. Emma Watson’s 2009 earnings are recorded at $30 million (£19 million), having bagged $15 million each for her two most recent outings as Harry Potter’s Hermione. She is the face of Chanel and models for Burberry as well. Her performances in all six Harry Potter films earned her recognition and awards and have enabled her to amass a net worth of more than $50 million.
Born Destiny Hope Cyrus, Miley has become a role model for little girls all over the world. Her Disney show “Hannah Montana” is hugely successful and as if that wasn’t enough, she also has a good number of movies lined up. At 17, this young starlet makes about 6000 dollars every day.
The Olsen twins started their career when they were 6 months old on Full House as the adorable Michelle Tanner. After the show ended, they started their own clothing line and released all kinds of merchandise. Needles to say, it all sold and they are worth 150 million dollars each even though they have not been a part of too many movies recently.
This 22 year old has released four extremely successful albums. She has also endorses well-known brands like Clinique, Reebok and Secret deodorant. What’s more, she is also a CoverGirl. Born in Barbados as Robyn Rihanna Fenty, Rihanna has a net-worth of $25 million dollars.
Bill Gates is one of the two founders of Microsoft and was the richest man in the world at one point. His fortunes have been estimated at $50 billion, making him the most famous individual in the world who dropped out of college. Microsoft was immensely successful when Bill Gates held the reigns. His charitable foundation, the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” is the second largest in the world.
When one thinks of Apple, one is always reminded of Steve Jobs, the entrepreneur who started the company, lost it and then regained the initial glory and magnified it. In the past, he created hacking devices and is known for his infamous prank calls to the Pope. This self-made billionaire is worth 4.4 billion dollars and counting.
Michael Dell started taking apart computers and rebuilding them as an experiment. He got enrolled in a university in Texas where he started to sell the computers he built on his own. Once he realized how successful his business was becoming, he dropped out and started working full-time. He is among the top 10 richest men in the United States and is worth over $15.5 billion.
Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifschitz. He changed his last name at 16 as he felt that it would be more appropriate when he became successful. This ambitious young man dropped out of a college in New York and after working as a salesman for a few years, he launched his label, “Polo”. Ralph Lauren is worth over $3.6 billion.
Marc Zuckerberg is the founder of everybody’s favorite social networking website- Facebook. He started the website along with his roommates in Harvard after he realized that he loved creating computer programs. This 23 year old was voted the youngest billionaire by Forbes magazine and is worth over 1.5 billion dollars.
Born to unwed parents in Mississippi, Oprah was brought up by her grandmother who was poor but she did teach Oprah how taught her to read. Academically she was strong and became a great television host. Today, she has her own channel and television show, as well as a magazine.
Andrew Carnegie was a poor boy from Scotland who became a great person during the industrial age. His family went through great financial crisis and Andrew worked as a telegraph messenger in America. He made investments in the railroad companies, and then proceeded to invest in the steel industry. Finally he started his own steel company.
Born in Ontario, Canada, Carrey wanted to become a comedian. His family went through troubled times financially. Eventually Jim decided to do what he loved doing most – being a comedian. He dropped out of high school and was able to get a part on a play called The Duck Factory. Today he is one of the most highly paid comedians.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Wayne had a troubled childhood. Wayne went to high school and afterwards dropped out of college. He trained to be a part of the Army reserves. Subsequently he returned to Florida, bought a truck built a highly successful garbage business. He is well known for finding three Fortune 500 Companies.
Chris did not know who his real father was. He soon became a salesman of medical supplies and worked in that position for some time. Soon he took interest in stock broking. His son was a great motivation for him. After getting through the licensing exam, he received a job at Bear Sterns. In 1987, he started his own brokerage firm called Gardner Rich & Co.
He is the current Prime Minister of Singapore. Not only is this man married to Ho Ching, who happens to be the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore, but his annual salary consists of US$ 2,856,930, making him the highest paid head of a government today. The numbers comes as a surprise considering that the gross domestic product of Republic of Singapore was only 181,939 million USD for 2008. Now talk about keeping it in the family…
Current Chief Executive and Head of Hong Kong Government. He is also a member of the Tung’s inner cabinet of Executive Council, which is also the highest policy-making body in Hong Kong. Sir Donald’s salary is equivalent to $513,245 USD. With the gross domestic product of Hong Kong at 206,706 million USD, Sir Donald should be considering the investments into his home economy.
Current president of the United States – does not have any reason to complain over his personal budget. The first ever-elected black president brings home $400,000 USD annually. Compared to the gross domestic product of United States of America at 14,264,600 million USD for 2008, Obama’s salary seems to be a fair share.
France is considered one of the most developed countries in the world, home to a unitary semi-presidential republic. For the last 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influences.
