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Five people who lost it all and started again

Other | Thursday 19th May 2016 | Ollie

Sometimes you have to take 2 steps back to take a step forward and that applies to all of us, we are going to show you 5 entrepreneurs who lost it all, started again and went on to have even greater success.

Peter Jones

Born in Maidenhead he founded his first business selling computers at an early age and became successful very quickly but after a few years of unsuccessful business start-ups he lost everything and had to move back in with parents in his late twenties.

However he did not let this deter him and after just a year of working for another company he was running the entire business, he then went on to start his own company Phones International which went on to become one of the worlds leading Telecommunications companies. In addition to being an entrepreneur, he was one of the dragons on the UK version of Dragons Den and has also dedicated his time to charities and other philanthropic ventures earning himself a CBE along the way.

Simon Cowell

After a few successful years of working the Music industry a younger Simon Cowell had it all - the money the cars and the houses, he then decided to go out and start his very own record company and with this came his first failure as the company went bust and he was forced to move back home.

He then went on to sign smaller acts and this led to him creating the world famous Pop Idol television show that spawned into the X-Factor, Britains got Talent and more which are shown all over the world and in the process have generated him an enormous wealth.

 

George Foreman

During his illustrious career as a professional boxer where he became the World Heavyweight Champion twice and earned himself an Olympic gold medal, George Foreman had accumulated a great deal of money, but after years of spending, he had a close call with bankruptcy.

He then made the great decision of lending his name to a new product on the market which was then aptly named the George Forman Grill. The product was an instant hit thanks in turn to its clever marketing strategy and netted the ex-boxer in excess of $200 million.

Willie Nelson

Regarded as legendary in Country music, Willie Nelson has never been far from controversy but after years of success that included releasing over 50 studio albums he ran into legal issues when he found out his taxes weren’t being properly paid and he ended up owing the taxman $32 million.

He worked solidly for years and he eventually paid off all of his debts by releasing new music and doing commercials and in doing so he is more popular than he ever was.

Dorothy Hamill

After winning an Olympic Gold medal at just 19 years old Dorothy Hamill was already on her way to great things and she then became a professional performer earning millions, she did, however, have a weakness and that was for the finer things in life and this eventually left her filling for bankruptcy.

She didn't, however, keep her head down and she worked her way back up to the top by releasing a memoir, doing television work and skating again which lead her to bagging a role in 2007’s Blades of Glory starring Will Ferrell.

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