Halsey Minor, who helped sell CNET Networks to CBS (CBS -1.59%) five years ago for $1.8 billion, is broke and has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection because of what Bloomberg News describes as a "fascination with houses, hotels, horses and art."
Minor reportedly walked away from the sale with $200 million. But now, he owes $100 million and has, at most, $50 million to pay his creditors, according to the news service.
He needed protection from creditors after efforts to raise money that included unloading his art collection. He sold two paintings in 2010 for $21.1 million that went toward paying a $21.6 million judgment obtained on a delinquent loan. Sotheby's won a judgment against Minor in 2010 after he refused to pay for works of art that he won at auction.
When it came to real estate, Minor's results were also disastrous. He spent $15.3 million in 2008 on a 400-acre plantation in Virginia that included a 12-bedroom Georgian mansion. That property, known as Carter's Grove, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011, Bloomberg says.
Financial setbacks are not new for Minor. Bloomberg notes that he had maxed out his credit cards in the early 1990s trying to get CNET off the ground. At the time, Microsoft (MSFT -0.37%) co-founder Paul Allen came to his rescue by investing $2.5 million in the fledgling enterprise. (Microsoft owns and publishes moneyNOW, an MSN Money site.)
For ordinary investors, Minor is cautionary tale that shows that even wealthy people can be undone by profligate spending.
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Minor reportedly walked away from the sale with $200 million. But now, he owes $100 million and has, at most, $50 million to pay his creditors, according to the news service.
He needed protection from creditors after efforts to raise money that included unloading his art collection. He sold two paintings in 2010 for $21.1 million that went toward paying a $21.6 million judgment obtained on a delinquent loan. Sotheby's won a judgment against Minor in 2010 after he refused to pay for works of art that he won at auction.
When it came to real estate, Minor's results were also disastrous. He spent $15.3 million in 2008 on a 400-acre plantation in Virginia that included a 12-bedroom Georgian mansion. That property, known as Carter's Grove, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011, Bloomberg says.
Financial setbacks are not new for Minor. Bloomberg notes that he had maxed out his credit cards in the early 1990s trying to get CNET off the ground. At the time, Microsoft (MSFT -0.37%) co-founder Paul Allen came to his rescue by investing $2.5 million in the fledgling enterprise. (Microsoft owns and publishes moneyNOW, an MSN Money site.)
For ordinary investors, Minor is cautionary tale that shows that even wealthy people can be undone by profligate spending.
.