How MC Hammer Lost His $30 Million Fortune

In 1991, MC Hammer earned about 33 million dollars in a single year. He was the first artist in history to go diamond, the biggest rap star on the planet. Five years later, he walked into a bankruptcy court with 9.6 million dollars in assets and 13.7 million dollars in debt. He did not lose it because he was reckless. He lost it because no one in his life was ever allowed to say no. This is the story of how a fortune that took a decade to build vanished in about five years. In this documentary: the Oakland batboy who borrowed 40,000 dollars and built an empire out of his car trunk; the diamond album that sold over 18 million copies; the Rick James lawsuit hiding inside his biggest hit; the 200-person entourage that cost 500,000 dollars a month; the 40,000 square foot mansion he built for a fortune and sold for a fraction of it; the Kentucky Derby racehorse, Dance Floor, trained by D. Wayne Lukas; the 1994 reinvention that could not save him; the 1996 bankruptcy; and Ice Cube, who got rich in the same era and did the one thing Hammer never did. If you have ever wondered how someone can earn 33 million dollars in a single year and still end up with less than nothing, this is the full story. Subscribe for more stories of the people who had it all and watched it get taken away: @fallenstarsstories Fallen Stars is made by myself, a person who loves the real stories of the people who once had everything and lost it, nothing more. Every video is for educational and entertainment purposes and reflects my own research, views, and interpretations. I dig into each story using publicly available sources, but mistakes and omissions can happen. Nothing here is professional, financial, or legal advice, and this channel is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any person, estate, or company mentioned. SOURCES Wikipedia — MC Hammer (batboy origin, Bust It Productions, diamond album and 18M+ sales, endorsements, Hammerman, 1994 The Funky Headhunter, 1996 bankruptcy, later ministry and tech ventures) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_Hammer Time (Business) — Top Celebrity Bankruptcies: MC Hammer (Forbes $33M year, 200-person entourage at $500,000/month, mansion, $9.6M assets vs $13.7M debt, Deion Sanders loan) https://business.time.com/2012/02/16/... Celebrity Net Worth — The “Hammer Time” mansion (the $5M land purchase, 40,000 sq ft build, reported $12–20M construction, 1997 sale for $5.3M) https://www.celebritynetworth.com/art... Blavity — MC Hammer net worth (peak $33M in 1991, roughly $70M in today’s money, spending breakdown, 2013 ruling on $800K in back taxes) https://blavity.com/entertainment/mc-... Wikipedia — Dance Floor (horse) (MC Hammer’s Oaktown Stable, trainer D. Wayne Lukas, 1992 Fountain of Youth win, Florida Derby 2nd, Kentucky Derby 3rd) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_F...) Wikipedia — Ice Cube (left N.W.A in 1989 over a ~$32,000 pay dispute, co-wrote Friday on a $3.5M budget grossing ~$28M, built his own production companies and the Big3 league) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Cube Wikipedia — 2 Legit 2 Quit (the single and its famously expensive music video) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Legit... This video is for educational and commentary purposes. All footage and images are used under fair use for the purpose of criticism, commentary, and historical analysis (Section 107 of the Copyright Act). #fallenstars #mchammer #bankrupt