From the Other McCain by way of his other gig at Viralread
Famous Tech Entrepreneur Halsey Minor Declares Bankruptcy
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.Back in the good old days, it was usually the third generation that wasted the fortune. Things move so fast these days.
"There are but three generations in America from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves. Under such conditions an aristocracy of wealth is impossible." - Andrew Carnegie
Splendid. But one question remains unanswered: Did his wife dump him? Tune in next week, for the exciting conclusion of...
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