15 Riches to Rags Story of Lottery Winners Who Blew it All Away

Winning a lottery is a chance of pure luck. One needs just one stroke of good luck and their lives change forever. Immense wealth gives people who were down on luck a chance to better their living styles. It can be dream come true for people who were doing breaking their backs doing hard work all their lives.

This might mean that they don’t have to lift a finger for the rest of their life. It also means one needs to become a better wealth managers and ensure that they make that last for a long time to ensure they get the best mileage out of it.

But we have 15 stories of lottery winners, who chose to live a lavish lifestyle and blow it all away, or were conned out of their winnings and were left with nothing but pennies.

1Lara and Roger Griffiths: $2.7 mn

Lara and Roger Griffiths thought their life would change for good after winning $2.7 mn dollars in the lottery in 2005. The couple had two daughters and was living a happy life until the lottery win happened and Roger decided to quit his job. He spent his money buying sports cars, spending huge money on vacations with friends and family in Monaco, Dubai and New York.

The couple bought a $1 mn home, which burnt down. Roger also left Lara after 14 years of marriage and things changed when he had just $7 to his name out of the $2.7 mn in 2013. Both Lara and Roger blamed each other in an interview for blowing away the money.

Image Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

2William 'Bud' Post III: $16.2 mn

At 66 years old William ‘Bud’ Post III won a huge draw of $16.2 mn in 1988. Though he had his intentions right, Williams invested in businesses but didn’t hire a financial advisor. His investments failed and he owned a lot of money to shareholders. This resulted in every check he got annually going into paying the shareholders. His brother got jealous of him and hired a hitman to murder him. However, he was arrested and convicted.

William had burned through his money in a year, got sued by his landlord for 1/3rd of his lottery winnings and William got convicted for pulling out a shotgun on a debt collector.

Image Source: thedollop.net

3Suzanne Mullins: $4.2 mn

In 1993, Suzanne Mullins won $4.2 mn in Virginia lottery and has split her prize money with her husband. She was supposed to receive 20 annual after-tax payment of $47,778. She had to borrow money from a company that lent to a lottery winner. After 2000, Mullins was able to collect on the rest of the money at once, after rules changed.

Instead of paying back to the company, she spent all the money away and still owed $154,147 in 2004.

Image Source: worldlifestyle.com

4Sharon Tirabassi Resident of Hamilton: $10 mn

35-year-old Sharon Tirabassi, a resident of Hamilton, Ontario won $10 mn (Canadian) in 2004. She checked out her check with the lottery corporation and bought a fancy house, sports cars, expensive clothes, trips, parties and everything pricey. After a decade of splurging, she realized that she only had $1 mn left in her account. Thinking straight, she put the money in a trust fund for her six children. Now she is back working, taking the bus to work and living in a rented house.

Image Source: yimg.com

5Evelyn Adams: $5.3 mn

Evelyn Adams won the lottery twice- the New Jersey Lottery (1985-1986). Her first winning was $3.9 mn and the second time she won$1.4 mn. Before her wins, she was working as a clerk and bought lottery tickets worth $100 every week. She managed to buy the convenient store she worked at and married her fiancé.

However, some bad choices like gambling, shopping, bad investments and expensive gifts to family meant that they lost their fortune in a matter of years and now lives in a trailer.