50 Cent Broke No More

James Curtis Jackson III, otherwise known by his rap name 50 Cent, is no longer bankrupt. On February 5, 2017, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Connecticut ordered a standard discharge from bankruptcy after the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ star made close to $23 million in payments to creditors. The rapper had filed for Chapter 11 in July 2015, stating that his debts amounting to nearly $32.5 million exceeded his assets that totaled up to $24.8 million. Just a few months later, Jackson posted a picture of him with piles of cash spelling the word ‘broke’ on his Instagram feed, which led critics to wonder if he was taking his situation seriously enough. (The New York Times subsequently reported that he told the court that the money was fake prop money.)

In June 2016, Jackson was ordered to pay $23.4 million, a little under 72% of his total debt, over a period of 5 years. But he went ahead and wrapped up all the payments ahead of time. Court documents show that Jackson made an initial payment of $7.4 million. He then paid an additional $1.3 million in December 2016 along with money he was awarded in a separate lawsuit to square off his debts.

A bad business investment is what brought Jackson to the brink of being broke. Emboldened by the success of Beats by fellow rapper Dre, Jackson teamed up with a company called Sleek Audio to come out with a line of headphones. When that deal went bust, Jackson decided to go ahead and launch his own brand anyway, and wound up getting sued by Sleek Audio as a result. An award in favor of the audio company was over $17 million.

Jackson alleged that he was ill-advised by his law firm and sued the firm for malpractice. In December 2016, he received $14.5 million as a result of that lawsuit, and $13.6 million of that money went towards settling his debts. That was a big boost to his repayment plan.

Another lawsuit that left a big hole in Jackson’s pocket was that brought by Lastonia Leviston for damaging her reputation by making public a sex tape. The lady in question has a child with Jackson’s rival rapper Rick Ross. Leviston was awarded $7 million in damages.

Jackson is now suing the law firm that initially represented him in the sex tape case, accusing it of negligence and misrepresentation. He is seeking $32 million, which includes $7 million of the award in the sex tape case and another $25 million in damages.

A lot of celebrities run into financial trouble because of their lavish lifestyles and mismanagement of funds, and Jackson was no different. Documents filed with the court show Jackson spent $108,000 on his monthly expenses. That includes $67,000 spent on the upkeep of his 52-room Farmington, CT mansion. The house's previous owner, Mike Tyson, also faced bankruptcy.

(Read Also: Top 5 Reasons Why People Go Bankrupt)