How easy is it to blow $200 million? Just ask high-tech mogul Halsey Minor, who went from dot-com multimillionaire to flat broke in less than five years. Fifteen years ago, Minor was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine as one of the Internet entrepreneurs the magazine called “Masters of the New Universe.” In 1999, Fortune magazine’s list of “40 Richest Americans Under 40″ had Minor at No. 31 with an estimated net worth of $354.1 million. He divorced his first wife in 2006 and quickly re-married to the ex-wife of Hollywood producer Marc Gurvitz. A 2008 profile showed Minor with the blonde second wife, Shannon, leaning on his shoulder and called him “The Baddest Boy in Silicon Valley.”
In 2008, Minor sold the company he founded, CNET, to CBS in a deal valued at $1.8 billion, from which Minor’s haul was reportedly $200 million. Minor then went on a spending spree — he called it “investment” — that looked an awful lot like a mid-life crisis. He bought hotels and mansions and race horses. He also frequently found himself in legal disputes over unpaid bills, hassles that included losing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit to Sotheby’s auction house. It was reported last year that he and his new blonde wife owed the state of California more than $10 million in unpaid income taxes.
This week, Minor finally declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California, estimating his debts as high as $100 million and his assets at less than $50 million. The former dot-com “bad boy” sent an e-mail statement to reporters: “A case might have been made that I should never have strayed from technology. However, I like doing things outside my comfort zone, and I believe that willingness in part accounts for my tech successes.” A video report by Bloomberg News:
READ MORE:
- Dawn McCarty and Ari Levi, Bloomberg: How Halsey Minor Blew Tech Fortune on Way to Bankruptcy
- Hugo Martin, Los Angeles Times: CNET founder Halsey Minor files for bankruptcy
- Eamon Murphy, Daily Finance: CNET Founder Halsey Minor Bankrupt 5 Years After Firm’s $1.8 Billion Sale
He knows how to make money. When he gets back to his roots he will thrive again. It's what entrepreneurs do.
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Halsey can declare Chapter 7 all he wants but the fact is that his tax obligation to California and the IRS of almost $30,000,000 stays with him and most likely will land him in jail.