The 10 Most Poverty Ridden Countries In Europe

1. Moldova – GDP of $3,500

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the nation of Moldova gained its independence. The citizens of this country are extremely poor and have the very lowest standard of living in all of Europe. It is completely dependent on the countries agriculture exports to gain revenue.

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Celebrities Who Made It Then Lost It

Everyone loves a rags to riches story. It is the classic tale of one person who made it big against all odds and built a life for himself through hard work and dedication. But what about if it went the other way around? There exists hundreds of stories of how people who had it all eventually lost it all. It may have been because they squandered their wealth, were careless, or just plain unlucky.May the others who follow in their footsteps learn a thing or two about making it big and surviving the trials of fame and fortune.

Here is a look at the top 10 people who almost lost it all despite being rich and famous.

10. Ed Mc Mahon

As a prominent TV personality, Ed McMahon was doing well hosting shows and acting as a sidekick to Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” which started in the early 60’s. During 2008, Ed McMahon was in debt. According to news reports, he was $644,000 behind on mortgage loans. In the same year, he was also unable to pay for his divorce which cost him around $275,000. When he appeared on Larry King Live to talk about his situation, the reason for his downfall was simple – he was spending more than what he was earning.

9. Burt Reynolds

 

Famous for his roles in “Smokey and the Bandit,” “White Lightning,” “All Dogs go to Heaven,” and “The Longest Yard,” just to name a few, Burt Reynolds was considered a multimillionaire. What caused him to lose most of what he earned was a high-profile divorce from his ex-wife Lori Anderson. He was then in debt for millions of dollars and in 2011, a credit corporation filed foreclosure on his Beverly Hills Florida home. He owed the company $1.2 million.

8. MC Hammer

After his hit single “Can’t Touch This,” came out in 1990, MC Hammer was an instant millionaire. All the hype gave him a net worth of $33 million. The fame and fortune happened all too soon as he filed for bankruptcy in 1996. He was said to be $13 million in debt because of his lavish lifestyle and excessive spending. Having a large entourage also helped hasten the decline of this iconic hip hop star.

7. Mike Tyson

 

Despite being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Mike Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003. This was during the decline of his career. Tyson was a professional boxer from 1985 to 2006. And that was despite earning $300 million during his entire career and garnering $30 million from his fights during that time.

6. Nicolas Cage

 

Nicolas Cage was known as one of America’s highest paid actors. He owned houses all over the world and was included in Forbes top paid actors in 2009 for earning $40 million for his roles. But in the same year, the IRS claimed that Cage did not pay $6.2 million in federal tax income during 2007. According to Cage, it was his business manager who caused all the unpaid bills so he sued him for negligence and fraud. But according to the business manager, Cage refused to take his financial advice and insisted on living lavishly and spending extravagantly on luxury purchases.

5. Kim Basinger

As a former fashion model who turned into an actress and won an Academy Award, it is surprising to hear about Kim Basinger’s filing for bankruptcy in 1993. This was due to her backing out in a role for a film “Boxing Helena.” The studio was going to sue her for $8.1 million but because she filed for bankruptcy they both settled for $3.8 million instead.

4. Toni Braxton

Perhaps bad luck was what caused Toni Braxton to file for bankruptcy twice. In 1998 she filed for bankruptcy because of bad business deals, serious medical conditions, and not earning enough from her royalties. In 2010, the singer filed for bankruptcy again because of being in debt for millions of dollars and a cancelled Las Vegas Tour did nothing but make it worse.

3. Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson was considered an iconic symbol in the country music industry. Known for his activism, he was a main figure of “outlaw country,” which is considered a sub-genre of country music. With lots of success from numerous studio albums and television appearances, he was found to be in debt of over $30 million. According to Nelson, his accountants were the ones responsible for not paying his taxes. He was able to recover from it by letting his lawyer settle for a smaller amount, coming up with another studio album that helped pay for his debt, and auctioning off his possessions. By 1993 his debts were cleared.

2. Sly Stone

As one of the pioneers of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 60’s, Sly Stone was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. He was part of the band Sly & the Family Stone which had difficulty in getting along. His decline was due to substance abuse and excessive spending which led him to living homeless in a van which he would park along the residential streets of L.A.

1. Michael Jackson

Once at the top of the charts and on top of the world, Michael Jackson was an unparalleled performer. Starting out as a vocalist in a band with his brothers and later on performing solo, he gained fans worldwide. He was known for his smooth vocals and original dance moves. He sold millions of records worldwide and came up with music videos which were known for their crazy gimmicks. He even owned a 2,900 acre lot called Neverland Ranch which was sort of like an amusement park and fantasy land. But due to molestation cases, it was becoming difficult to maintain the property’s upkeep. Though he was acquitted of all charges, the artist decided never to return to the ranch again. That was when trouble began as the ranch fell into foreclosure in 2007 because of his loans, which reached up to $23.5 million.

The Top 10 Richest Families in the World

Who are the richest families in the world? Names like Rockefeller, Rothschild, Ashton and Oppenheimer will always ring the bell. The Waltons and Kochs are also extremely wealthy, though each sibling now has a family of their own already.

So based on Forbes magazine’s ranking, here now is a list of the top 10 richest families in the world.

10. Iris Fontbona and family – $17.4 billion

When Chilean billionaire Andronico Luksic passed away in 2005, he left his entire business to his family, namely his wife Iris Fontbona, and their three sons, Jean-Paul, Andronico and Guillermo. The family controls one of the largest copper miners in the world, a company called Antofagasta. The family also holds the majority of the shares of Quinenco, a consumer packaging and beverage producing company with stakes in the banking, energy, port services and transportation sectors. They also own two beach resorts in Croatia.

9. Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez and family – $18.2 billion

The family of Mexican billionaire Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez has a stake in various sectors and industries through its holding company called Grupo Bal Gonzalez is the Chairman of the largest silver miners in the world called Industrias Penoles. The family also controls Grupo Palacio de Hierro, a department store chain; Grupo Nacional Provincial, an insurance company; and Grupo Profuturo, a pension fund company. Gonzalez also has a stake in FEMSA, a bottler of Coca Cola.

8. Theo Albrecht Jr. and family – $18.9 billion

Theo Albrecht Jr. is the lone surviving son of Theo Albrecht, the man who built up a large grocery chain in Germany and the rest of the European mainland in the 1960′s. After the elder Albrecht died, he left his fortune to his two sons, Theo, Jr. and Berthold. Berthold, however, passed away in November 2012, leaving behind his wife Babette and five children. As all the businesses are controlled by a foundation that gives out dividends to family members, all of them still have a stake in the various companies. Among them are Aldi Nord, the German discount supermarket chain; and Trader Joe’s, an American discount grocery retailer.

7. Thomas & Raymond Kwok and family – $20 billion

Thomas and Raymond Kwok are property tycoons from Hong Kong. They now control, along with their mother Kwong Siu-hing, Sun Hung Kai Properties, the dominant player in the country’s real estate industry. The family patriarch Kwok Tak-Seng, who passed away in 1990, founded the company. The two brothers, however, are currently involved in a $4 million corruption scandal that is awaiting trial.

6. David Thomson and family – $20.3 billion

The Thomson family has a private holding company called Woodbridge, which is controlled by David Thomson and his brother Peter. The family owns 55 percent of the media information company called Thomson Reuters. David chairs the board of this firm, as well as the Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada. The family also has shares in IHS, a company that deals with analytics, and Strategic Hotel and Resorts, a real estate investment trust company.

5. Michele Ferrero and family – $20.4 billion

After Pietro Ferrero died in the 1950′s, his entire chocolate business was taken over by his son Michele Ferrero. Michele was able to expand the business into one of the largest confectionery makers in the world, with products and brands that include Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates, Nutella and Tic Tac. The Italian group has more than 70 affiliated companies and 15 production plants. It also employs about 22,000 people around the world. The company is particularly strong in places like the United States, Russia and Brazil, three of the biggest countries in the world. He has two sons, Pietro and Giovanni, but the former passed away in 2011. Giovanni is now the Chief Executive Officer of the entire Ferrero group.

4. Christy Walton and family – $28.2 billion

Christy Walton is the surviving wife of John Walton, one of the sons of Sam Walton, the co-founder of the massive Wal-Mart chain. After Sam died, his children took over with shares in the company. John, however, died in 2005 in an airplane crash, leaving behind Christy and one child. Christy and her family inherited John’s wealth, including dividends from Wal-Mart that amounted to $430 million in 2012 alone. A side investment in First Solar also pushed her net worth more than the other Walton siblings.

3. Bernard Arnault and family – $29 billion

Bernard Arnault is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the luxury line Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, or LVMH. The family also has shares in Christian Dior. The Frenchman, however, has attracted controversy in the past years after he applied for citizenship in Belgium. A lot of people believed it was related to the high tax regime being proposed in his native France. The move sparked a lot of debate on the government’s plan on further taxing the rich. Before the year ended, Arnault was also knighted in the United Kingdom.

2. Liliane Bettencourt and family – $30 billion

The Bettencourt family inherited its fortune from the family patriarch who owned 30 percent of L’Oreal, a French cosmetic giant. The family, however, is at odds with one another. While Liliane, at 90 years old, is currently the richest woman in the world, she has suffered from dementia, forcing her daughter and grandson to take action with the grandson Jean-Victor replacing Liliane in L’Oreal’s board. Liliane was also reported to have given a billion dollars in gifts to a photographer and artist named Francois-Marie Banier, which the daughter claims was done unscrupulously.

1. Carlos Slim Helu and family – $73 billion

Carlos Slim Helu is the head of the richest family in the world. The family owns Grupo Financiero Inbursa, a financial company, and Grupo Carso, an industrial and retail firm. He also owns America Movil, a mobile phone company operating across Latin America and that has stakes in KPN of the Netherlands and Telekom Austria. The family also has interests in infrastructure, mining and real estate. His sons, Carlos, Marco Antonio and Patrick, are now in charge of some of the companies.

One Direction, Leona Lewis, JLS on 2013 Sunday Times Rich List for music stars

One Direction, Leona Lewis and JLS are the "X Factor" U.K. alumni who are on the Sunday Times' 2013 Rich List of the 15 wealthiest British music artists who are under the age of 30. The list will officially be published on April 21, 2013, but The Sun published the Top 15 list ahead of time in its issue dated April 11, 2013.

On "The X Factor" U.K., One Direction came in third place in 2010, Lewis came in first place in 2006, and JLS came in second place in 2008.

The Sunday Times' 2013 Rich List is ranked based on each individual's estimated worth. For music groups that are still together, each member of the group's estimated worth (not the entire group's total worth) determines the ranking.

According to the list, the five members of One Direction are worth about £5 million each, bringing the group's total estimated worth to £25 million. The four members of JLS are worth approximately £6 million each, bringing the group's total estimated total to £24 million. Lewis is worth about £12 million.

Most wealthy music artists make their fortune not from sales of albums or singles but from touring, merchandising, endorsement deals and publishing royalties if the artists write songs that are hits.

Adele is at the top of the list. She has an estimated fortune worth £30 million.

Three of the five members of disbanded group Girls Aloud are on the list: former "X Factor" judge Cheryl Cole (£14 million) is the ranked the highest of the three, followed by Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts, who are tied at £6 million each.

Here are the music artists who are on the list:

1. Adele — £30 million

2. Cheryl Cole — £14 million

3. Leona Lewis and Katie Melua (tie) — £12 million each

5. Florence Welch — £9 million

6. Charlotte Church and Jessie J (tie) — £8 million each

8. Lily Allen, Nadine Coyle, Duffy, each member of JLS, James Morrison and Nicola Roberts (tie) — £6 million each

14. Emeli Sandé, each member of One Direction and Ed Sheeran (tie) — £5 million each

Photos: Burna Boy Strips & Performs On Stage In His Underpants

Nigerian singer Burna Boy thrilled his audience at the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos early morning Monday, Oct. 21, when he performed in his underwear like the late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.



It was the close of "Felabration," an annual event paying homage to the Nigerian-born singer, afrobeat legend Fela who died in 1997. 





 

Peter Okoye and Lola Omotayo to wed November 17th in Lagos

This is confirmed gist. After several years and two children together, Peter Okoye and Lola Omotayo are getting ready to say I do. Their traditional wedding will hold on Sunday November 17th at the Arc Events Centre in Lekki. Gbenga Adeyinka and Helen Paul will MC the wedding.

Their white wedding will hold sometime next year. Congrats to Lola and Peter!

Jeta & Mbong Amata have separated after almost 10 years together

 

For all the fans of Jeta and Mbong Amata, I am about to break your hearts. The prolific movie director and his beautiful actress wife of five years Mbong Amata, 28, have separated. They have actually been separated for about a year now but y'all are just hearing about it. And from what I gathered Jeta and Mbong didn't fight, they just decided to let each other go.

Jeta met Mbong when she was only 16 years old in Calabar in 2001 during a movie audition. He waited for her to mature and they started dating when she turned 18 two years later. In 2008, they welcomed a daughter, that same year, Jeta married Mbong. They later moved from their base in Abuja to Los Angeles so Jeta could work on his movie projects.

Continue to read why they broke up...so heartbreaking for such a young couple and maybe there's a lesson to be learnt here...

Here's what I heard happened between them. Mbong met Jeta when she was so young, married him and became a mother in her early twenties. She is a former beauty queen (Miss Akwa Ibom 2003) and her dream was to be an actress. Jeta didn't mind his wife being an actress but he didn't want her featuring in Nollywood movies, so he restricted her. Mbong, some of you may have noticed, only featured in Jeta's movies. And because she met Jeta so young, Mbong didn't get a chance to date other men, never partied and until they separated, never earned a living on her own. She relied on Jeta for everything.

When they moved to the US, it became a little worse for Mbong. She became lonely and instead of being the star actress she's always dreamed of, she became a housewife, caring for Jeta and their five year old daughter. Mbong became resentful and left Jeta in 2011 and returned to Nigeria. Jeta went after her and they reconciled after Jeta promised to give her a bit more space to pursue her dreams.

Jeta tried to live up to his promise, but as an African man, just couldn't compromise much and so last year Mbong wanted out of the marriage and Jeta let her go. Mbong and Jeta have been living separately in Los Angeles for about a year now. When I asked if there was any hope for reconciliation, my source told me 'it's only a matter of time before they file for divorce. They have moved on and the love is no longer there. Mbong is very happy now that she can do whatever she wants without a husband to stop her or tell her what she can or can't do"

I've known Jeta Amata for a long time, since the 90's in fact and so before writing this I reached out to him to get his own side of the story, and because we are friends, Jeta opened up to me.

He confirmed that they have indeed separated & partly blamed himself for the break up. He told me;

"Mbong is an amazing mother, an incredible wife...all the time we were together she would never let any other person cook my food...she was faithful and good to me and gave me the best gift in the world, our beautiful daughter. If I didn't cage her so much maybe we would still be together. I stole her youth and didn't let her live her dream so it was better to let her go and find new adventures. She's happy and so am I. Despite the fact that we are no longer together, we are still good friends. She even lives close to me here in LA. Things are great between us and I'm happy to see her happy."

Since the separation Mbong has featured in two Nollywood movies, one of them is Forgetting June produced by Emem Isong, which she came back to Nigeria to shoot. She also revealed her sexy bikini body some months back. Y'all didn't know she was a single woman then...pic below...

As for Jeta, I heard he now has a new girlfriend. Jeta is dating Australian actress Viva Bianca, best known for her role as Ilithyia in Spartacus (Pic below)

Viva is starring in Jeta's new movie project - Road to Redemption, which also features Ghanaian actress,Yvonne Nelson and pop star, Akon. Jeta and Viva have been dating for many months now and were even spotted in Las Vegas recently. When I asked Jeta about his relationship with Viva, he didn't want to talk about it.