The Dumbest Lottery Winners Ever!

Here are the

dumbest

lottery

winners

ever

! 6- Abraham Shakespeare The fact that someone named Shakespeare lived through a modern tragedy is perhaps one of the best ironies imaginable, how

ever

unfortunate it may be. Unlike the more famous Shakespeare, Abraham worked hard as a trucker's assistant. But when he won a THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS jackpot in Florida in 2006, his life actually took a turn for the worse. Instead of doing the math and delving into the discounted cash flows, Shakespeare decided he was smart and could beat the guaranteed rate presented to him, and instead opted for a lump sum of $16.9 million, significantly less than the $30 million annuity to which he was entitled.

Never mind the fact that he is a trucker and if he was really good at finance, he would be in the industry. ANYWAY, after buying a Rolex and making big mistake #1. #1 with a $1 million house, Shakespeare didn't seem to go on drug binges or spending sprees. But like many before him, he had a lot of people coming to ask for money. In particular, he started a business with a woman named Dee Dee Morgan called Abraham Shakespeare LLC, with the goal of writing his life story... sort of. Just a word of advice guys, you have to have achieved something in life to sell an interesting story... not just to win the

lottery

.

What ended up happening was that Moore took full control of the company's money, withdrew $1 million from the bank, bought cars, and may have even managed to buy Shakespeare's house for something like $665,000... which is less than who paid for it. Further investigation suggested that he didn't even pay anything for the house...which is much more of a scam! Oh yeah, tip #2. Never ever let someone else control your real money! I don't care if he is your wife or your husband. Unsecured liabilities, like a business credit card with a fixed limit? Sure. But not your actual cash. In April 2009 he disappeared and his friends and family could not find any trace of him.

Investigators were soon able to locate it in one of Moore's homes...unfortunately it was buried under a concrete slab. Moore was arrested and charged with the murder, though she offered a few different defenses. They were drug dealers... no wait, she killed him in self defense... she even went so far as to blame it on her 14 year old son. Investigators didn't buy any of it, and she was charged with the crime. She is currently serving a life sentence. Her story was featured on E!'s “The Curse of the Lottery,” as well as an episode of American Greed.

In the end, Abraham Shakespeare will be a tragedy that will hopefully serve as a warning to those who find themselves with great fortune in the future. 5-Vivian Nicholson In 1961, a British woman named Vivian Nicholson was given the chance of her life. Her husband, Keith, managed to earn more than £3.5 million, a fairly large amount at the time considering inflation. Her husband won his money from soccer pools...pretty much another popular form of gambling. She told the press that her plans were to "spend spend spend." And she wasn't kidding. Over the next few years she bought all kinds of things.

Expensive cars, fur coats, lavish vacations, a huge ranch-style home, and a spectacular lifestyle that quickly saw her fortune dwindle. When Keith was blown up in a car accident in 1965, he was left with a huge tax bill. On top of that, the banks determined that what was left of Keith's earnings belonged to her estate...not Viv! He ended up bankrupt. After the loss of her husband, Viv reportedly became depressed and she began to drink a lot of alcohol, though she later sobered up. She would later marry three more times, work a brief stint at a strip club, become a Jehovah's Witness, and write an autobiography titled Spend Spend Spend, which was later adapted into a musical.

After seeing it, she gave it a fairly neutral review, stating that the musical score and the actors were great, but that it didn't reflect her life quite well on her. When she passed away in 2015, there was a lot that could be said about her 79 years on earth. Her having a boring life wasn't one of them. Hey, you know what, I bet there was never a dull moment with her, no matter how bad her life decision was. 4 - Willie Hurt There are several ways to spend a large fortune. One of the most popular, literally "blowing" through it... if you get my drift.

In 1989, the Lansing, Michigan family man won $3.1 million in the lottery. However, the next two years turned out to be a nightmare for Hurt and those close to him. Before he could collect all of his winnings, he filed for divorce, separated from his children, and spent all of his money on crack. In 1991 he was charged with murder when he allegedly shot his girlfriend in the head during a 48-hour drug binge, which is exactly what you're not supposed to do to anyone, regardless of how much money you have. Money doesn't change people, which I agree with, but it certainly allows them to amplify their terrible life decisions! 3 - Billy Bob Harrell Jr.

It took Texas native Billie Bob Harrell Jr. less than two years to undo the good fortune of winning a $31 million Texas jackpot. In his case, he was too nice. After taking his family on vacation, he quit his job, gave money to his church, bought cars and houses for his friends and family, and donated a lot of money to charities. For example, he once donated about 500 turkeys to poor families. As big as his heart was, his ability to manage his wealth was not that good. Do you notice a theme here? Here's a tip: If you ever win the lottery and have never handled large sums of money before, hire a true LICENSED professional for financial advice!

Don't let that person be a date, family friend! Anyway, after good old Billy Bob negotiated a deal with a company that paid him a lump sum in exchange for his annual lottery payments, he was left with much less than he actually won. After a divorce that left him basically broke, he tragically committed suicide in 1999. According to TIME magazine, he once told a financial advisor that winning the lottery was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. What is the lesson here? It is better to have a recurring cash flow than a lump sum. Never forget that! 2-Michael Carroll In 2002, when 19-year-old Michael Carroll won the UK National Lottery, he gained a kind of celebrity status.

Carroll earned about 10 million pounds, or just over 14 million US dollars. His antics earned him nicknames like the "Lottery Boss" or the "King of Chavs", which he had actually taped onto a black Mercedes. After a troubled youth, Carroll found work as a garbage man, only collecting garbage for a living. When he earned the huge fortune from him, Carroll didn't even have a bank account, so he obviously had no idea how to handle any kind of financing. Carroll claimed that he planned to spend his money frugally and save much of his money. Ummm… Are we supposed to laugh now or later?

Spoiler alert, obviously that didn't happen or else it wouldn't be on this list, would it? Instead, Carroll became famous for his partying and gambling habits. Now it's worth noting that he already had a minor criminal record when he won and that he was wearing a small fashion accessory known as an ankle monitor when he came to collect his winnings. I'm just trying to give you a point of reference here about the kind of guy we're talking about here. Carroll went and bought a mansion, which he named "The Grange", where he threw legendary parties, with booze, drugs and prostitutes galore!

Oh yeah, he would also hold amateur demolition derbies in his backyard. Yeah, what the hell went through my mind too. Believe it or not, throwing the kinds of parties that would wow even The Wolf of Wall Street or Jay Gatsby tends to attract some pretty nefarious characters. By 2012, he had spent all his money, was broke and camping in the woods. If there's any kind of silver lining to somehow spending a $14 million fortune, it's that, according to the Huffington Post, he was able to kick his drug addiction after losing all his money. For example, he once claimed that when he was rich, he would wake up and have a line of coke and wash it down with some beer...the breakfast of champions.

Last we heard, he worked in a cookie factory and earned $300 a week. He told the BBC that he appreciates those salaries far more than the fortune he fell back into. To be honest, I don't think he's being real and I think he's just saying it so people don't call him dumb. so I call nonsense. But in case he WAS honest, this guy lost all his money, but he gained some perspective...that counts for something...I guess...psyche!! Last time I checked, prospect doesn't pay any bills! Stay wild my friends. 1 - Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr. Many of the stories we share here are surprising to say the least, and on some level seem believable.

But for someone to lose around THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN million DOLLARS seems almost impossible! But "next to" is the key word here. Because that's basically what happened. Let's go through the incredibly stupid steps of spending $315 million, shall we? In 2002, Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr, who I can only assume is named after the colorful seventh president, won the multi-state Powerball worth an unholy amount of money. In fact, Whittaker's ticket was the largest single winner in US Lottery history. His first mistake was turning down the $315 million annuity and opting for a $170 cash purchase, 5 million. After taxes, that was worth about $113 million.

Good God people, PLEASE DO THE MATH! Then he tried to be quite generous. After donating 10 percent of his earnings to Christian charities, he also created the Jack Whittaker Foundation, using $14 million of his earnings. The foundation benefited low-income families in rural West Virginia with food, clothing and housing. Okay, so Andrew is a pretty nice guy, huh? No doubt. But was he smart? Wellllllll, that's a different story. While visiting a strip club, he left $545,000 in cash in his car. Who are you, Floyd Mayweather? At least Mayweather has recurring cash flows! Obviously they robbed his car and the money left.

So that's over half a million that has gone there. He apparently didn't learn his lesson because months later, his car was broken into again and the robbers made off with $200,000 in cash. Dude, come on, how dumb are you? Unfortunately, things only got worse. His granddaughter's 18-year-old boyfriend lied when she overdosed at the Whittaker home in 2004. A few months later, the granddaughter also lied under mysterious circumstances at a friend's house. The case was never solved. He would go on to be charged with a DUI in 2005 and developed a bit of a gambling habit. He bounced a check for 1.5 million at an Atlantic City casino.

And as icing on the cake, his house burned down in December 2016. It turned out that he had never insured the house... so it was a total loss. Oh really? Uninsured? I think my head just exploded. No matter how well-intentioned, Whittaker didn't manage his winnings very well, and whatever is left will soon be gone if he doesn't! Now, if he were to bet half my net worth on what's going to happen, he's sure to be broke again. This is what's next!