10 Men Who Had It All But Blew It

MSN have come up with a list of 10 men who once had it all but then lost it for different reasons and as they say there can’t be anything worse than achieving your dreams and down blowing it all. Here are those men:

OJ Simpson

OJ Simpson was a record-breaking American footballer and a star of the big screen. Money, looks, fame and women: here was a man who truly had it all. And when he was found not guilty of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman some observers thought he had luck on his side too. Though Simpson was no longer America’s golden boy, at least he wasn’t serving life in a federal prison. And then he really blew it. In 2008, he was found guilty of, among other offences, kidnapping, assault, robbery and using a deadly weapon, and sentenced to 33 years in prison with a minimum of nine years without parole. Few have fallen quite so far as OJ.

Ben Johnson

The Canadian sprinter appeared to reach his athletic peak in 1987 and 1988, setting consecutive world records and winning 100 metres gold at the Seoul Olympics. His victories were initially put down to the motivational qualities of his fierce rivalry with Carl Lewis, who in 1987 had said that he would never lose to Johnson again. Lewis did lose to Johnson again, but three days after the Olympic final the Canadian was disqualified after the banned substance stanozolol was found in his urine. He was later stripped of his world record, too, and his name has become a byword for drugs cheating in athletics. As it turned out, he wasn’t alone. Several sprinters in the same final were later implicated in drugs scandals.

Michael Carroll

He was the self-styled King of Chavs and – to the tabloids – the ‘Lottery Lout’. Michael Carroll won £9.7 million on the lottery in 2002, aged just 19, and spent huge wads of it on drugs, cars, gold jewellery, gambling and prostitutes. Which we guess is what happens when you give a 19-year-old a huge fortune. Carroll was jailed for affray in 2006, and by 2010 was officially bankrupt and claiming jobseeker’s allowance.

Richard Nixon

After losing narrowly to John F Kennedy in 1960 election, Richard Nixon was elected President of the United States in 1968 and immediately set about implementing progressive policies on economics and the environment, and instigating friendlier relations with Russia and China. And if Watergate hadn’t happened, ‘Tricky Dicky’ may have taken his place as one of America’s most successful presidents. But the scandal – in which he was linked to a break in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters – ensured the name of the only president to resign in office would become synonymous with political corruption and the abuse of power.

George Best

It’s often forgotten that George Best left Manchester United behind – and with them the glory years of his career – at the tender age of 27, when many players are still in their prime. But the booze, womanising and gambling had taken its toll, and Best’s very best days were already fading into memory. What followed was a slow and ignominious decline, punctuated by bouts of drink-driving, ill health and public drunkenness. It came as little surprise to many when the most talented footballer the British Isles has ever produced died in 2005 at the age of just 59.

Gerald Ratner

Making a huge business gaffe is now called ‘doing a Ratner’, after the infamous occasion in 1991 when chief executive Gerald Ratner knocked £500 million off the value of the jewellery business that bore his name using a four-letter word to describe the quality of his own products. In his defence, Ratner said he made the comments at a private function and was only joking. Nobody remembers that. They only remember that the boss of one of Britain’s biggest high street jewellers had called his own merchandise “total crap” and said that some of it was “cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn’t last as long.” After the firm’s near collapse, Ratner resigned in 1992.

Jonathan Aitken

When media organisations claimed Jonathan Aitken had flouted ministerial rules in his dealings with leading Saudis, the high-flying Conservative minister called a press conference and said that he would fight “to cut out the cancer of bent and twisted journalism in our country with the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play.” The line would come back to haunt him. Aitken sued, but his case against the Guardian newspaper and Granada Television collapsed when evidence of his dishonesty was produced in court. Aitken was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice and sentenced to 18 months in prison, as well as being declared bankrupt.

Andrew Fastow

In early 2001 Enron was America’s seventh largest company, employing 21,000 staff in 40 countries. By December of the same year it was bankrupt. It was bankrupt because its success was built on shady financial accounting and outright deception. As chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow helped orchestrate a series of loss-making deals and financial schemes at Enron to hide debts from investors, convincing them all was rosy in the garden, when the company in fact owed billions of dollars. Fastow made tens of millions of dollars from these schemes, but is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for his role in the scandal. He was also forced to forfeit a personal fortune of $24 million.

Richard Fuld Jr.

In 2006 one magazine named Richard Fuld Jr, chief executive of investment bank Lehman Brothers, America’s top chief executive in the private sector. Between 1993 and 2007 he received nearly half a billion dollars in pay, bonuses and stock. In March 2008, he was named, admiringly, “Mr Wall Street”. Later in 2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed, and thrust the world into the global recession we are only starting to recover from today. In November of that year Fuld sold his $13 million mansion to his wife for the meagre sum of $10. But Fuld’s fall was more one of reputation than material wealth. After the collapse, CNBC named Fuld at the top of its list of “Worst American CEOs of All Time”, and CNN named him one of its 10 “Culprits of the Collapse”.

Jerry Lee Lewis

In the 1950s, Jerry Lee Lewis really did have it all. A pioneer of rock and roll, he’s still the only singer to have two songs hit the No 1 spot in the pop, R&B and country charts simultaneously. It was in 1958 – at the height of his fame and earning power – that Jerry Lee Lewis made the decision that would cost him his reputation and fortune. He married his cousin… who was 13 years old. The backlash was predictable and severe, and his career never recovered. He was inducted into the rock and roll Hall of Fame in 1986, but filed for bankruptcy two years later.

I guess I should be thankful I never succeeded in my dream so I never had to crash and burn in the way that these men have. Well that’s what I’m telling myself anyway.

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10 Men Who Had It All But Blew It

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