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View Full Version : Question: How fast can a hillbilly go thru $315M?


Okla-homey
1/16/2007, 09:32 AM
Answer: about four years.


Powerball winner: Thieves cleaned me out

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A man beset by problems since winning a record lottery jackpot says he can't pay a settlement to a casino worker because thieves cleaned out his bank accounts.

Powerball winner Jack Whittaker gave that explanation in a note last fall to a lawyer for Kitti French, who accused him of assaulting her at the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center, a slots-only casino near Charleston, according to a motion French's lawyer filed this week demanding payment of the confidential settlement.

Whittaker won a nearly $315 million on Christmas 2002, then the largest undivided lottery prize in U.S. history. He took his winnings in a lump sum of $113 million after taxes.

Since then, he has faced his granddaughter's death by drug overdose; he has been sued for bouncing checks at Atlantic City, N.J., casinos; he has been ordered to undergo rehab after being arrested on drunken driving charges; his vehicles and business have been burglarized; and he has been sued by the father of an 18-year-old boy, a friend of his granddaughter's, who was found dead in Whittaker's house.

In the latest lawsuit, Whittaker told French's lawyer, John Barrett, that "a team of crooks" cashed checks in September at 12 City National Bank branches and "got all my money," according to the motion Barrett filed Wednesday in state court.

"I intend to pay but can't without any money," Whittaker wrote, according to the motion.

An official with City National Bank said Friday the bank is investigating "small discrepancies" in Whittaker's accounts.

Calls to Whittaker and his lawyers Friday were not immediately returned.
tbl
1/16/2007, 09:45 AM
Unbe-freaking-lievable.
ultimatesooner1
1/16/2007, 10:18 AM
there is a great article with much more detail on this that I read during the great ice storm of 2007. I can't get to it from here but I will find the link when I get home and post the link
ultimatesooner1
1/16/2007, 10:21 AM
I found the article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36338-2005Jan25.html)
Frozen Sooner
1/16/2007, 10:56 AM
You realize if he had just invested the lump-sum payment in muni bonds he could have lived on 3-5 million PER YEAR TAX FREE without even dipping into the principal?
royalfan5
1/16/2007, 11:01 AM
This illustrates why I don't participate in the lottery. If I ever have that much money, I want it to be because I'm good at something, rather than being lucky. I don't believe that winning the lottery creates the mindset to preserve and build wealth.
Mjcpr
1/16/2007, 11:04 AM
This illustrates why I don't participate in the lottery. If I ever have that much money, I want it to be because I'm good at something, rather than being lucky. I don't believe that winning the lottery creates the mindset to preserve and build wealth.

:rolleyes:

If you can't "preserve and build wealth" with a $315 million headstart gift, then you would have to be a complete moron.
royalfan5
1/16/2007, 11:05 AM
:rolleyes:

If you can't "preserve and build wealth" with a $315 million headstart gift, then you would have to be a complete moron.
That's probably with the lottery, it gives too many morons money. Some people shouldn't have very much money, and the lottery violates that natural law.
ultimatesooner1
1/16/2007, 11:07 AM
this guy was already a millionaire before he won this
Boomer.....
1/16/2007, 11:13 AM
I saw a special on cable about poor people who won the lottery and how fast they blew all of their money. It was pathetic!
Oldnslo
1/16/2007, 12:19 PM
It's also a truism in Plaintiffs' cases that years after a large award, the Plaintiff is in worse financial condition than before the windfall.

I ALWAYS advise my (admittedly few) Plaintiff clients to check with a tax advisor and a financial planner. I offer to refer them to the d00ds I use (I get no referral fee). Nobody takes me up on it.