‘Honey, I Blew $200 Million’

Posted on | June 1, 2013 | 11 Comments

Halsey Minor and his second wife, Shannon, in 2008

CNET founder Halsey Minor files for bankruptcy
— Los Angeles Times

CNET Founder Halsey Minor Bankrupt
5 Years After Firm’s $1.8 Billion Sale
— Daily Finance

How Halsey Minor Blew Tech Fortune on Way to Bankruptcy
— Bloomberg

Famous Tech Entrepreneur
Halsey Minor Declares Bankruptcy
— ViralRead

The headlines pretty much tell the story, but the details are interesting: Halsey Minor is a Virginia aristocrat of such illustrious heritage that at his alma mater the University of Virginia, two campus buildings — Minor Hall and Halsey Hall — are named for his ancestors. Where did everything go wrong for the dot-com bad boy?

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 disputesover 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. . . .

Read the whole thing (and watch the video) at Viral Read.

Category: Economics

Comments

11 Responses to “‘Honey, I Blew $200 Million’”

JewishOdysseus
June 1st, 2013 @ 1:02 pm

I smell a typo somewhere here: “In 2008, Minor sold the company he founded, CNET, to CBS in a deal valued at $1.8 trillion…”
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 1st, 2013 @ 1:02 pm

A spectacular spending meltdown. But some people like roller coasters. And some people do not know what they want.

Maybe he can call in to Dave Ramsey for help.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 1st, 2013 @ 1:02 pm

Yeah, a “b” word is probably the correct one.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 1st, 2013 @ 1:03 pm

JewishOdysseus is a great handle. I vision a quest for a decent rye loaf on a weekend morning!
dkmkc2000
June 1st, 2013 @ 1:09 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: TOM ‘Honey, I Blew $200 Million’ http://t.co/UpkCtTWL16 #TCOT
ThomasD
June 1st, 2013 @ 1:20 pm

I’m guessing she’s not going to prove the sticky sort of ‘honey.’ More like the leave-your-broke-dumb-ass sort.
robertstacymccain
June 1st, 2013 @ 2:24 pm

Trillion, billion, to-may-to, to-mah-to …

Thanks for the catch. Fixed it both here and at Viral Read.
Adjoran
June 1st, 2013 @ 4:58 pm

This happens more often than you would think, but mostly to multimillionaires under 50. Seems once you get used to not caring what things costs, you lose the ability to keep track of what you’ve spent.

Of course, ex-athletes and aging movie and pop music stars constitute the bulk of the bankruptcies of former millionaires, but they are far from the only ones.
Neo
June 1st, 2013 @ 5:26 pm

I see some important “flags” in the article.

First, there is “California” … they will suck you dry and then ask for more. California hates “new money,” so a “wallet-ectomy” is in order.

Second, I see “new blonde wife” … which means he has an “old wife” to pay too, not to mention feeding his “junk” will cost him plenty.

With just those two items, that $200 million is now less than $30 million. Then, factor in spending like he had $200 million, which he didn’t, and you have bankruptcy.
Kevin Trainor Jr.
June 1st, 2013 @ 7:27 pm

Kevin Trainor Jr. liked this on Facebook.
Quartermaster
June 2nd, 2013 @ 6:30 pm

200 million isn’t as much money as he seemed to think. I could eke out a living on that, some how, but it might be tough. It would be easier for me than for him since I’m used to poverty.