Celebrities and Wealth

America worships celebrity. As a society, we tend to view celebrities as having better judgment, as being more ethical, more attractive and more worthy of attention that average people.

In my searches for financial information on the internet, I've come across some interesting links on the relating to celebrities and their financial lives. It seems that if you take a closer look at the finances of many celebrities, some have done incredibly well, others have failed and filed bankruptcy.

While its undoubtedly easier to become wealthy if one is famous, it would seem that process of making money shouldn't matter based one's celebrity status (e.g. the stock market doesn't care who owns shares, its about supply and demand). I've given the matter some thought, and although I've by no means thoroughly considered all angles, its seems that regardless of ones celebrity, some principles for building wealth still apply:

1) Living below one's means
2) Building and maintaining a business
3) Making sound and well reasoned investments

From what I've read, MC Hammer went bankrupt due to the cost of maintaining a 40 person entourage. He seemed to have spend more than he was making. Oprah has grown from being a successful actress to being one of America's most powerful women through her publishing and multimedia business. Finally, Toby McGuire got taken to the tune of $187,000 because he failed to research his investment advisor. Something tells me he didn't look into what products he was buying.

If you'd like to read more, click here for Bankrate.com's series on celebrity financial profiles. Its got some useful and insightful articles.

Otherwise, have a great day and happy web surfing!

Best,

James