Every entrepreneur can tell you about the satisfaction of running their own business and the pride in producing their own products. Nowhere is the American Dream more fully realized than in small business or investment success.
That said, there’s something those who have never tried entrepreneurship do not understand: investing in a business is very, very difficult. Why two “verys”? Because success requires a perfectly mixed cocktail of smarts, talent, timing and more than a dash of luck. Some people find this out the hard way. And when you are a celebrity, everyone knows about it.
Sometimes its ego, sometimes its bad management and sometimes they simply leapt without even so much as a glance. But celebrities, high profile by nature, have made many high-profile business investments that end in epic flameouts. Like the examples below.
Take these as you will. Some might see them as cautionary tales. Others, looking at the overall success of many of these people, might see them as proof that even big mistakes can be overcome.
15. CURT SCHILLING
The business: Video game start-up
Few recent business flameouts have been as bad as the one involving baseball pitching great Curt Schilling and his video game start-up company, 38 Studios. Based in Rhode Island, the company produced exactly one video game, “Kingdoms of Amalur.” In 2012, Schilling laid off all 379 staffers at 38 Studios, then filed bankruptcy. But the problems extended beyond just his personal and business losses.
Schilling and his partners had taken $75 million in loans from the state of Rhode Island (state officials floated bonds to back the loans, luring Schilling’s company away from Massachusetts) that they now could not repay. Everyone lawyered up. The state sued, claiming 38 Studios used false financial statements to secure the public loans. In September 2016, Schilling and former 38 Studios executives agreed to pay just $2.5 million back to the state, leaving taxpayers on the hook for millions. The bankruptcy filing shows the company had $150 million in debt versus just $22 million in assets. Schilling says he spent $50 million of his personal money on the business.
14. STEVEN SPIELBERG
The business: Themed restaurant
Steven Spielberg reigns as one of the most wildly successful movie directors in the past 40 years. He’s copied by many (J.J. Abrams is a prime example) and his list of films include many cultural touchstones. Unfortunately, his list of restaurants is much shorter and forgettable.
In the mid-1990s, Spielberg and Dreamworks CEO Jeff Katzenberg opened two locations of Dive!, a submarine-themed restaurant in the shape of, you guessed it, a yellow submarine. Menu items included “sub-stantial salads” and “sub-lime desserts.” And of course submarine sandwiches. Every 30 minutes, the entire restaurant would simulate a deep sea dive with flashing red lights. Profits soon also took a dive, and it wasn’t a simulation. While the two locations – in Los Angeles and Las Vegas – had early success, traffic tapered off, merchandise sales dropped and both closed by 1999.
(Excerpt) Read More at: MSN.com