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PSA: If you get rich & have douche parents, dont..

z1ggy

z1ggy

Lifer
Give them power of attorney.

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson is earning $5 million this season after making $10.5 million over the previous three years alone. That’s enough to afford a person a comfortable lifestyle, but bad loans taken out by his parents have cost him dearly, based on a report from the Columbus Dispatch. That led to Johnson filing for bankruptcy on Oct. 7.

“I’d say I picked the wrong people who led me down the wrong path,” Johnson said. “I’ve got people in place who are going to fix everything now. It’s something I should have done a long time ago.”

NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said “it’s heartbreaking” when players go broke, but there’s not much that can be done to prevent it other than teaching athletes about the potential dangers they face. Unfortunately, Fehr noted, it’s the people that they are close to that often end up victimizing them, per TSN’s Gord Miller.

That was reportedly the case with Johnson, according to the Dispatch:

Sources close to Johnson have told The Dispatch that his own parents — Jack Sr. and Tina Johnson — are among the “wrong people” who led him astray financially.

In 2008, Johnson parted ways with agent Pat Brisson, who represents some of the National Hockey League’s biggest stars, including Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

With no agent and little knowledge of how the financial world works, Johnson turned over control of his money to his parents.

…

Tina Johnson borrowed at least $15 million in her son’s name against his future earnings, sources told The Dispatch, taking out a series of high-interest loans — perhaps as many as 18 — from nonconventional lenders that resulted in a series of defaults.

Johnson has cut off all contact with his family, a source said.

“I’ve seen lots of instances of parents riding their kid’s coattails around,” an NHL executive familiar with the case said. “I’ve never seen a case as ugly as this one, where the parents took such advantage of their kid.”

It got to the point where Johnson’s paychecks were being consumed before he even received them, but Johnson was reportedly initially unaware of what his parents were doing. In 2011, his parents took out a loan of $1.56 million with a 12% interest rate against Johnson’s contract and used that money to buy a Manhattan Beach home near their son. Johnson thought his parents got the money from the will of a deceased relative, according to a Dispatch source. That’s just one example of the loans that were taken out on his behalf and it wasn’t even the single biggest loan.

Blue Jackets president John Davidson knows about Johnson’s situation and said the team is with him as he gets through this.
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I saw that on the news this morning. It reminds me of when I used to work for a Satellite TV company. I was searching for a house way off grid on backroads for an account owned by "Jacob Smith" (name changed)... I asked someone if they knew where I could find the guy... They said, "I don't know anyone by that name, but there's a Roy and Martha Smith down that road..." It turns out they had bad credit and had registered their satellite TV account in their baby's name...and didn't pay the bill.

They were real winners in my eyes.
 
Scarpozzi said:
I saw that on the news this morning. It reminds me of when I used to work for a Satellite TV company. I was searching for a house way off grid on backroads for an account owned by "Jacob Smith" (name changed)... I asked someone if they knew where I could find the guy... They said, "I don't know anyone by that name, but there's a Roy and Martha Smith down that road..." It turns out they had bad credit and had registered their satellite TV account in their baby's name...and didn't pay the bill.

They were real winners in my eyes.
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That's pretty common, but a three-figure or low four-figure hole is much easier to dig out of than a $15M hole.
 
Heard this on the radio yesterday. Poor dude... I heard his current contract is worth $30mil but currently he's lucky to get a paycheck.
 
Sonikku said:
It's like a tax on a stupid.
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Ummm.. Well, I think he went in assuming he could trust his own parents and that they would not blow his entire $20M that he was making.

I wouldn't call trusting your own parents stupid. They straight up fvcked him over, and have no consequences to pay; only he does. I'm going to guess though they might not be getting a Christmas card this year though...
 
z1ggy said:
Ummm.. Well, I think he went in assuming he could trust his own parents and that they would not blow his entire $20M that he was making.

I wouldn't call trusting your own parents stupid. They straight up fvcked him over, and have no consequences to pay; only he does. I'm going to guess though they might not be getting a Christmas card this year though...
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Surely he should have had some indication they were sorry before he gave them control.
 
highland145 said:
Surely he should have had some indication they were sorry before he gave them control.
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Sounds like he had manipulative asshat parents who convinced him to drop his agent so they could obtain control of his money.

What do you mean by sorry?

Either way, I just feel bad because maybe he did something stupid by giving his parents rights to his money, but he doesn't deserve to be $15M in debt because of it. Parents should be people you can trust and whom look out for you. Not spend all your money then leave you to foot the bill when it can't be paid back.
 
Sounds like the guy is just dumb it's very likely his parents were never very nice people. If anyone is going to be robbed blind by their parents I hope it's a guy like this who can afford to get back on his feet, sucks that he's so dull tho.
 
z1ggy said:
Sounds like he had manipulative asshat parents who convinced him to drop his agent so they could obtain control of his money.

What do you mean by sorry?

Either way, I just feel bad because maybe he did something stupid by giving his parents rights to his money, but he doesn't deserve to be $15M in debt because of it. Parents should be people you can trust and whom look out for you. Not spend all your money then leave you to foot the bill when it can't be paid back.
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Thought that might be too vague. I meant that they are sorry pieces of shit.
 
What's that "30 for 30" documentary.... "Broke in 30" or something like that? Pretty much predicts this will happen with every young professional athlete.
 
z1ggy said:
I wouldn't call trusting your own parents stupid.
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I would.

There is no indication they had any skills whatsoever to do what he gave them the responsibility to do. Even if they hadn't committed fraud, they could have easily lost his money by making well intentioned bad decisions or could have been defrauded themselves.

Add to that, with the amount of money involved, you should always get a 3rd party audit on a yearly basis to identify any potential problems or opportunities for improvement.

No question about it, he was stupid.

-KeithP
 
Markbnj said:
What's that "30 for 30" documentary.... "Broke in 30" or something like that? Pretty much predicts this will happen with every young professional athlete.
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Tried watching that episode. But the constant shifting between people to finish sentences became painful to watch.
 
highland145 said:
Maybe just naive but after a lifetime with them, he should have had a clue.
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Sadly, money changes people drastically. I am sure we have many members here that would screw anyone over for a little scratch.

I used to work for a company that bought annuities, lottery winners were our biggest clients. So many of them were burned down by their families and friends after only a few years.

Those same people, now better off, turned up their noses as the person that they benefited from.
 
Markbnj said:
Pretty much predicts this will happen with every young professional athlete.
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I might be picking nits here but I think this case is different from the ones wherein the athlete goes on crazy spending sprees and pays for everything for everyone in his/her entourage.
 
It's likely this dude isn't the brightest bulb in the box, so he wanted someone to take care of the finances which makes sense. Also I really can't blame him for trusting his own parents ya know? That's just a fvcked up set of parents.
 
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