For David Lee Edwards, winning the lottery was a wild rocket ride
In the fall of 2006, David Lee Edwards and his wife, Shawna, decorated their front door for Halloween. But if trick-or-treaters made it to the couple's home, a storage unit in Riviera Beach, no plastic ghost was as scary as what they'd have found inside: two pale, withered junkies from Kentucky living amid dirty clothes, rotting food, and their own filth.
And these were lottery winners.
Today, with David on what could be his deathbed and much of his $27 million prize squandered on big-boy toys and drugs, the saga of the Edwards clan is like the Beverly Hillbillies replayed as tragedy.
To a modern-day Euripides, the point would be that those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make suddenly rich.
The Edwards' story is all the more compelling because of the distance the family traveled, like a rocket that shoots into space and, slowly at first, then faster and faster, tumbles back to Earth.
Liftoff happened toward the end of the summer of 2001, as much of the country was gripped by Powerball mania. Eighteen drawings had failed to produce a winner in 21 states and the District of Columbia. The Powerball pot had swelled to more than $280 million, the third-biggest in U.S. history.
On Saturday, August 25, David walked into Clark's Pump 'n Shop, a convenience store and gas station in Westwood, Kentucky. He was 46, a high school dropout, an ex-con who had robbed a gas station 20 years before. He'd spent a third of his life behind bars. Now he was on unemployment and owed child support. He had chronic back pain from a 1988 car accident. He lived nearby in Ashland, Kentucky — a fading steel town, population 25,000 — in a home without running water.
He spent $7 on lottery tickets.
That night, when winners were finally drawn, David was one of four, scoring $73.7 million. He could have taken that in annual payments of $2.9 million over 25 years — but that was perhaps too safe, too conservative. Instead, he took a one-time payout of $27 million.
On Monday, August 27, David appeared at the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, to receive his ceremonial check. He had his long hair pulled back in a ponytail and was doing his best to look natural in a suit. Reporters peppered him with questions.
Yes, he'd made some mistakes in life, he said, speaking slowly, trying not to sound too country. Yes, he was no stranger to the inside of a jail cell — but from now on, folks could leave poor out of poor white trash when they referred to David Lee Edwards.
Shawna Maddux, his 27-year-old girlfriend, stood by his side. The mother of three boys, she had her own demons — she already had a history of substance abuse — but under the TV lights at the museum, she looked plump and healthy, if awkward.
"You know, a lot of people, they're out of work. Doesn't have hardly anything," David said solemnly.
"And so I didn't want to accept this money by saying I'm going to get mansions and I'm going to get cars, I'm going to do this and that. I would like to accept it with humility.
"I want this money to last, for me, for my future wife, for my daughter and future generations."
Then he said he had his eye on a Bentley. And Shawna wanted a Ferrari.
"We need a new everything," they said, one repeating after the other.
"We're going to be the new and improved David and Shawna," Shawna predicted.
The day he heard he'd won the lottery, David said, his ex-wife, Gail, remarried.
"Congratulations, hon!" he said, gloating.
The Edwards rocket was accelerating. David sought advice from lawyers in Ashland and hired James Gibbs, a 31-year-old Morgan Stanley broker, as his financial adviser. The first thing Gibbs did was arrange a $200,000 loan so David could celebrate in Las Vegas while awaiting the Powerball payment.
After six days in Vegas, David was broke, says Gibbs, speaking by phone from Ashland. (David Lee Edwards could not be reached to comment for this article.)
When his lottery payment came, on September 10, 2001, David was like a kid in a candy store — that is, a kid whose favorite treat was OxyContin, the narcotic painkiller.
When long-lost acquaintances turned up asking for money, David was generous.
His pals "went hog-wild," Gibbs says. "He actually had I don't know how many friends OD once he won the money, from him giving them money and them going and buying so much and doing so much drugs that they died. Then he would pay for their funerals. I would just sit there and cringe."
David decided he needed a new home, in a place where his wealth wouldn't be so conspicuous. So in November 2001, he bought a 6,000-square-foot house in a gated golf and tennis community in Palm Beach Gardens. Price: $1.5 million.
David began to travel back and forth from Florida to Kentucky. On several occasions, he spent $8,500 for a private flight. He sometimes brought an entourage.
This was torture for Gibbs: "I'd be over there grittin' my teeth, with the calculator, saying, 'David, you gotta stop this.'
"He'd make fun of me to his friends — like, 'Look, I've got him so pissed off right now, he can't see straight!' "
In three months, David had spent $3 million, Gibbs says.
On New Year's Day, David and Shawna were married in Maui.
David's 11-year-old daughter, Tiffani, decided she wanted to move to Florida with him. The girl's mother, Gail Blanton, said OK. "I figured she'd just come right back home," Blanton says, speaking by phone from Ashland. "But she didn't."
Gibbs says David paid Blanton $500,000 to let Tiffani join him.
Blanton says she did get some money from her ex but not that much. She declined to be more specific.
David enrolled Tiffani in the Benjamin School, a private college prep school in Palm Beach Gardens, where annual tuition is more than $16,000. She was too young to drive a car, but she could cruise their neighborhood in a $35,000 Hummer golf cart that David gave her.
David liked vehicles. He bought a Chevrolet camper van. He also bought a Lamborghini Diablo. He had more than a million dollars' worth of wheels parked in front of his Palm Beach Gardens home. People came to stare. Neighbors complained that it looked like a car dealership over there.
In interviews, David boasted about his purchases. He told NBC News that he paid $78,000 for the gold-and-diamond watch on his wrist and $159,000 for the ring he wore. And there were the 200 swords in his collection of replica medieval weapons. And the plasma TV that he said set him back $30,000.
Susan Bradley is an expert in sudden wealth. "If you look at the things he was buying, they were pretty random," she says. "He was a sitting duck for all sorts of 'deals.' If you watch him for ten seconds and you're a predator type, you've got his number."
Meanwhile, Shawna's drug use was ballooning. She was doing crack and bouncing between their Palm Beach Gardens home and rehab and hospital stays. David gave her trinkets such as the $34,000 Rolex watch that she pawned to buy more drugs.
David also bought a $600,000 house in Palm Springs, California. And his own limo company. And a $1.9 million Lear jet. And three racehorses. And a fiber-optics installation company, which he acquired for $4.5 million.
A year after he'd won the lottery, he estimated he'd spent $12 million.
And his back still hurt.
The rocket was reaching its apogee.
At some point, David Lee Edwards got involved with another adviser, Jeffrey Chandler. In March 2003, David sued Chandler, claiming Chandler had bilked him out of $1 million. (The suit was ultimately settled out of court. Chandler could not be located to comment for this article.)
Early in 2002, Chandler embarked on a calculated ploy to win his confidence, David contended. His private pilot introduced the two men, he said, and he hired Chandler as a business consultant in June of that year, paying him $5,000 a week.
David put Chandler in charge of his fiber-optics company, World Solutions. Once there, David said, and unbeknownst to him, Chandler raised his own salary by $7,500 a week, to $12,500. Chandler told other employees to deal directly with him, cutting David out of the loop, David charged. He said Chandler played the company like a violin, using its funds to pay his personal expenses such as credit card bills and legal fees. At the same time, David said, Chandler persuaded him to put another $1.75 million into World Solutions.
Not long after he sued Chandler, David filed for divorce. Process server Paul Scholtes delivered the summons to Shawna at the DoubleTree Hotel in Palm Beach Gardens and noted that she looked ragged and had a black eye. But she had a diamond on her finger, and she was still plump.
David and Shawna reconciled. A few months later, her mother asked a state judge to involuntarily commit Shawna to a substance-abuse treatment program. Shawna had entered 12-step programs at more than half a dozen separate facilities at that point. Getting money for drugs was no problem. Rather, the money was the problem. There was still too much of it.
In a July 2003 hearing, David said that on several occasions he'd found Shawna passed out in their home with a syringe in her arm. Still, he noted, she seemed to have done well at Passages, a rehab center in Malibu, California. David paid $80,000 for her 60-day stay there.
In March 2004, David asked a judge to commit Shawna to a rehab program. He was afraid she'd die of an overdose, he said. Her drug use had become "extreme." She'd asked to be locked up as a way to control her urges, he said.
Her detox physician, Dr. Ross Glider, said Shawna was consuming as many as 50 80-milligram OxyContin pills a day, an extremely high amount — so high, Glider said, that she might have suffered brain damage.
The next month, David took out a $500,000 mortgage on their Palm Beach Gardens home. That May, he opened it to a TV crew, which documented his crystal collectibles and replica medieval armor, his life-sized statues of the Blues Brothers. "If I run out of every dime, it's been one heck of a ride, and I got to help a lot of people," David told the camera. "So at the end of the day, if it all went away, I'd be happy."
In October of that year, police were called to the Edwardses' Palm Beach Gardens home, responding to a domestic violence report. Shawna was just out of rehab again. David had found her with a crack pipe in the laundry room. She stabbed him with the pipe, he told police. She kicked him in the chest, he said, and he fell to the floor, numb, unable to walk.
David crawled out of the house and yelled for help.
David tried to curtail his own drug use, friends say, but Shawna led him back to it.
The rocket was falling.
In September 2005, police were called to the Edwards residence in Palm Beach Gardens, this time for a child welfare complaint. In addition to Tiffani Edwards, David and Shawna had custody of the youngest of Shawna's three sons, 7-year-old Matthew.
Officer Jennifer Prendergast described a creepy scene in the Edwardses' master bedroom, with used syringes everywhere. The officers also found 3.7 grams of cocaine.
Shawna began chattering about her drug problem and David's. The pair would frequently lock themselves in the bedroom to shoot up, she told Prendergast. And now they had hepatitis.
Glider, the detox physician, visited them at home, Shawna said, and prescribed drugs for them. Two bottles of OxyContin prescribed by Glider were in the bedroom. (New Times was unable to locate Glider for comment.)
The children weren't enrolled in school. Each could describe the parents' drug use in detail. They were placed in foster care for nine months. Tiffani eventually returned to her mother's home in Kentucky.
Shawna and David pleaded guilty to drug-possession charges and avoided jail.
That same month, the BallenIsles Community Association placed a lien on their Palm Beach Gardens house because David owed $2,599.81 in maintenance fees and interest.
In December, Bank of America sued David to recover $170,787.74 that he owed on his Visa card.
In April 2006, the community association forced the Edwards house into foreclosure; by now, David owed the association $8,642.75.
In May, high-end real-estate investors Gerti Kleicamp and Alfons Schmitt bought the Edwards home for $900,000, plus the late maintenance fees. When Kleicamp took possession of the house in early June, David was still in it.
She had him physically removed.
The rocket was falling faster.
It didn't take long for business owners at the warehouse complex in Riviera Beach to notice that Shawna and David Lee Edwards were living in Unit 4.
Before he lost his home, David used the warehouse space to store furniture and cars. Rent was $2,624.16 a month. David was often late with it, and garnered eviction notices on several occasions before he paid up.
The couple was liquidating assets, but the fresh income never seemed to last more than a few days.
Although he was no longer David's financial adviser, James Gibbs continued to help him, he says, sometimes by lending David money, and sometimes by selling his belongings for him. With frustration in his voice, Gibbs recalls what happened last year after he helped David unload a directional drill from the by-now-defunct fiber-optics company. He says he wired Edwards $20,000 from the sale on a Friday, and the money was gone the following Tuesday.
"If they get more money, then they spend it like they still have millions of dollars," Gibbs says.
After they lost their Palm Beach Gardens home, David and Shawna began to spend weeks at a time in the warehouse, sometimes without electricity.
Used hypodermic needles littered the parking lot near their unit. Shawna borrowed phones from neighboring businesses to make calls. David would hit up the neighbors for 20 bucks now and then. Sometimes the couple would fling open the rolling metal doors of their unit for all to see the mess inside.
"It didn't look like a good scene over there," says Andrew Goodyear, owner of Movin' on Mobility in Unit 5.
On July 31, 2006, Shawna was pulled over while driving their brown Chevy van on Okeechobee Boulevard. Officer Sean McMichael found two pieces of crack in her purse. Booked for drug possession, she was jailed for a month.
On August 2, David was stopped for a traffic violation while driving a U-Haul truck.
Officer Robert Wilson of the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department saw clothing, furniture, and boxes in the truck. Edwards said it was the contents of his house. Officer Wilson also discovered 1.3 grams of crack in David's possession, plus a crack pipe, two hypodermic needles, and half a gram of heroin.
"I ran out of my medication," David told the officer, "and I needed something for the pain."
He was booked for drug possession. On the arrest report, he's described as homeless.
Later that month, Kleicamp discovered that David owed Palm Beach County $50,849.63 in back property taxes for 2004 and 2005. She tried to get that money from him but couldn't. (Kleicamp later flipped the house for $2 million.)
Warehouse living didn't do much for David Lee Edwards' health. Friends say that he doesn't have health insurance and that area hospitals were tiring of him.
At the beginning of 2007, Shawna drove David to Orlando in their brown van and checked him into a hospital. He could barely walk.
Not long after that, David's ex-wife, Gail Blanton, and her husband, Jimmy, drove David back to Kentucky.
Around the same time, in January, the owners of David's rented Riviera Beach warehouse demanded possession of the unit for lack of payment.
In March, Shawna Edwards was picked up by police near Orlando for failure to pay $17,000 in child support to the father of two of her children.
On April 4, David's attorney in his drug case, Michael Salnick, told a Palm Beach County judge that he had been unable to communicate with his client since February 13. David was in an Ashland, Kentucky hospital, Salnick said, recuperating from "an intensive surgical procedure."
On July 14, the contents of David's warehouse unit were auctioned to the public. Auctioneer Doug Holladay estimated that the 104 items were worth $160,000. It was "high-end reproduction stuff," Holladay said. David "wasn't educated in the finer things, that's for sure."
Hundreds of people came to the auction. Most were simply curious. The warehouse, lacking air conditioning, was broiling that day.
Mario Lequerique, a tiki-hut builder and antiquities dealer from Royal Palm Beach, bought a pair of carved granite sphinxes for $2,750. He figured they were worth at least $7,000. Like most of the attendees, Lequerique had a theory about how Edwards lost his fortune. "If you didn't work for it, the money doesn't mean anything," he said.
Holladay said the warehouse unit was filled with human excrement when David and Shawna left it, even though it had a working bathroom.
The couple also left behind their wedding album.
On July 24, David missed another court appearance in West Palm Beach. Another attorney said that David was still in Kentucky and that he had an "infectious blood disease."
Folks in Ashland say David Lee Edwards is flat broke now. And he can't move his legs.
He made this bed for himself, says his ex-wife, Gail Blanton. She says she hopes he recovers, and that she wishes he had set aside some of the money for Tiffani, now 17.
"If he followed my advice," says James Gibbs, his former financial adviser, "he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life."
Gibbs says he put about $16 million of David's winnings in bonds and annuities, to protect David from himself. David cashed them out.
Vernon Holbrook, an Ashland used-car dealer, has known David since the 1950s, when Holbrook worked with David's father at a steel mill. Over the years, Holbrook says, he grew to think of David as a son, and David regarded him like a father. Holbrook says he knows the lottery money is gone because David borrowed money from him and hasn't repaid it.
"He got me for — let me see — I Western Unioned them six, seven thousand dollars," Holbrook says. "I got the tickets here in the drawer, 19 of 'em."
David and Shawna may have a few assets left. To post bail in Kentucky in her child-support case, Shawna produced the deed to a $250,000 Ashland home that she co-owns with her mother free and clear. Once she was released from jail, she said, she could get a home equity loan and pay the back child support. But within 24 hours of her July 18 release, Shawna failed a drug test.
The following Monday, deputies found her at David's bedside at King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland.
Holbrook says that he speaks with David nearly every day and that the outlook is grim. "I'd say he's on his deathbed, really," he says.
Holbrook chuckles.
"You can't really feel too sorry for somebody who blows millions of dollars."
wow what a story. You have the stories of how nice people make off with their money and then you have stories like these and good old Jack's.
I actually remember this drawing and seeing this guy on tv. Sad, sad story.
"If he followed my advice," says James Gibbs, his former financial adviser, "he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life." I just can't see how you could throw away $27,000,000. I didn't really think it was possible but now I am proven wrong. It sad that this is an all to common story of lottery winners.
The Edwards rocket was accelerating. David sought advice from lawyers in Ashland and hired James Gibbs, a 31-year-old Morgan Stanley broker, as his financial adviser. The first thing Gibbs did was arrange a $200,000 loan so David could celebrate in Las Vegas while awaiting the Powerball payment.
So you're unemployed, hit Powerball, and make a $200,000 loan to go to Vegas? I'll bet the wise guys in Vegas were betting among themselves on what the Over / Under would be on this guy blowing it all.
thanks for posting this story i wondered what happened to him because the lottery story on tv talked about them losing the home and i wondered where he ended up.
This is a horrible story. I remember seeing this guy on TV a few months ago. He was doomed from the start! How do you spend $3 million dollars in 3 months??? That is just absurd! Every story that I read that has this type of ending shows the power of money in the hands of a moron. I hope that if I ever win the jackpot, I will be able to maintin enough humility and sense to control the urges to overspend. The items that this guy purchased just made no sense at all. Mr. Gibbs, his first financial advisor, seems like he was a straight shooter. In the article, it reads as if he really cared and tried to help this guy maintain his money. It's not the money that was the problem, it was the person that the money was given too. This story just makes me sick! It's very depressing...*sigh*
...James Gibbs, a 31-year-old Morgan Stanley broker, as his financial adviser. The first thing Gibbs did was arrange a $200,000 loan so David could celebrate in Las Vegas while awaiting the Powerball payment...
I wonder how many people would want this guy as their "financial advisor" if they knew how freely he was willing to discuss his clients' dealings.
Yet another example of how money does not change people (though it can change how people treat you). A person who abuses booze and drugs, who commits crimes, and makes bad choices with their life is likely to continue to do that with lots of money in the bank. I once heard a jackpot winner say "If you were miserable before the win, you will be miserable after the win." How true.
Of course, if he had let the lottery invest the cash amount - BEFORE taxes - he would have received his annual check for $3.7 million this month - no matter what the stock market was doing.
I agree with the remark about the financial advisor, but it's possible that Mr. Edwards insisted on taking out the loan. I don't trust all financial advisors, but I also know from experience that you can't stop someone from being irresponsible. When I sold cars or furniture, people who didn't have a pot to pee in would want to finance all sorts of luxuries. I learned the hard way that trying to help people will make you poor. Once a couple drove into the dealership with a car that had only 30K miles on it, and they were very upside down. So I told them it would be more prudent to wait another year or 2 and explained how, no matter how good a deal I gave them, they would be paying thousands over sticker price, since a new car depreciates the most during the first 24 months. They thanked me and left. A week later they came back, so I thought they changed their mind. They wanted to show me the new car they purchased up the road. (I have no idea why they came back to me...it was like kicking me in the teeth.) After that, I decided to be fair & honest, but to let adults make their own stupid choices.
Chuck & I posted at the same time, so I want to add that I agree with him. I don't think it's typical to hear these stories. I am 100% positive that if I won even a million dollars, I'd be set for life.
Quote: Originally posted by Jill34786 on Aug 22, 2007
Very sad but typical of those who come into sudden wealth.
Typical? There have been over 220 Powerball jackpot winners. I only know of two that have had problems with their lives (other than the occaional paint chip on the Maybach).
The press loves to tell stories of "lottery winners" who have problems. Many of these big winners actually won prizes in the hundreds of thousands and do quickly go through it. You are not likely to see a big story on the thousand of winners who buy a new home, send their kids to college, start a business, take lots of nice trips (yawn).
That jackpot winners have tragic lives is a myth used to sell some media show or to sell slick finanical services (like the folks who put out their suvey findings that 90% of winners have spent their entire lottery winnings within five year - yeah right! - literally true if you are talking about the $5 winners).
Quote: Originally posted by chuck32 on Aug 22, 2007
Typical? There have been over 220 Powerball jackpot winners. I only know of two that have had problems with their lives (other than the occaional paint chip on the Maybach).
The press loves to tell stories of "lottery winners" who have problems. Many of these big winners actually won prizes in the hundreds of thousands and do quickly go through it. You are not likely to see a big story on the thousand of winners who buy a new home, send their kids to college, start a business, take lots of nice trips (yawn).
That jackpot winners have tragic lives is a myth used to sell some media show or to sell slick finanical services (like the folks who put out their suvey findings that 90% of winners have spent their entire lottery winnings within five year - yeah right! - literally true if you are talking about the $5 winners).
This is a news story because it is unusual.
I agree. Bad news sells newspapers and increases ratings. It also makes juicy gossip, and most people enjoy their gossip.
Even though this article is not representative of most winners, it happens to be one of the better stories I have read that documents the tragic rise and downfall of a top-tier winner. The only thing missing is quotes from the key players themselves, but other than that I think it is exceptional in its detail.
Quote: Originally posted by time*treat on Aug 22, 2007
...James Gibbs, a 31-year-old Morgan Stanley broker, as his financial adviser. The first thing Gibbs did was arrange a $200,000 loan so David could celebrate in Las Vegas while awaiting the Powerball payment...
I wonder how many people would want this guy as their "financial advisor" if they knew how freely he was willing to discuss his clients' dealings.
Well, it wasn't exactly a secret. The guy went on all the tv shows bragging about how much he paid for his watches and rings, I'm sure he's the one who told about the $200k trip to Vegas.
Them judging him for spending $3 mil in 3 months kind of irks me. When I win the Powerball tonight, I'll probably spend that much within 3 months after I claim it too. He spent much of it on a house, which is what I'll do. Of course, I'm smart enough (I hope) that I won't then go buy a couple dozen cars and kilos of drugs and fake antiques and my children's love with the rest of it. The rest will stay in the investments my advisors put it in and I'll live off the investment income.
Quote: Originally posted by Jill34786 on Aug 22, 2007
Chuck,
I had meant to say those who were in similar situations (drug addicts, ex-cons) such as the subject being profiled in the article.
I agree with you that many others who came from "better" backgrounds have fared much better with their winnings.
Too true.
This is a great article. A nice record of how this winner burned out.
One thing to remember is that this money is not "lost". It was simply moved to someone else - realtors, car dealers, jewelry dealers, and sadly, sellers of trashy trinkets and drug dealers. That is likely the saddest part - better funding of drug dealers.
We all benefit from the lessons of the unwise few. You just don't need everything you see. That is a slave mentality. These people were obviously slaves to their appetites. I truly feel for them in a way. If you starve for a long period, you develop a food hording tendency. The same goes for cash and a fear of poverty. People like these need to take payments. It is unfortunate that some people live in the moment with no thought of tomorrow. Drug addicts commit slow suicide due to self hatred, maybe this is the case here.
There are plenty of stories where people have blown their newly found money.
I agree with Jeffery with what he said about people who starve for a long period, they tend to horde food. I was just thinking the same thing. I don't have a lot of money but I know that winning will just be over whelming! (IN A GOOD WAY...but there will be pressure) That's why I already planned my first couple of weeks. I'm going to be taking DEEP BREATHES. Really deep, calming breaths. When the money is finally given to me....while I'm taking deep breathes, me and my hubby get a couple thousand to go insane with. He can buy whatever his heart desires and so can I. Just get BUCK WILD! This is after my tithes are paid, of course. We get ONLY a couple of thousand. There HAS to be a limit. Once it's gone...it's gone...no touching what's left. Once it's spent on stupid useless crap....we've now gotten that out of our system...we can now be more level headed and more prepared to make better decisions.
When this guy was on 60 Minutes in 2004 or 5, he was one of 4 winners that looked like they would be successful with their winning. To my knowledge the others are still doing well.
The thing I remember most was when he talked of buying a suit of armor, "So what if it cost $50,000, I make that much a month in interest". Also, if my memory is correct, his wife was never mentioned.
It's a sad story and one I hope to learn from when I hit the Mega Millions on Friday.
Sounds like he ended up where he was headed before he won the lottery. Winning the lottery caused a slight detour.
LOL
Or merely caused it to happen more rapidly.
Sudden changes (for good OR bad) basically intensify behavior characteristics that are already there.
A recent article on handling sudden wealth on MSN Money pages pointed out that the first thing to those who find themselves in these circumstances is do to take a breather, then see a planner and put a plan in place that you can live with, then tie the rest of your money up so that even if you WANT to respond to those who will "put the touch on you", you cannot. I know that I can say NO as well as the next person but there are some types of sob stories that REALLY get to me--so I need protection against those who know this about me (as an ex-nurse, I run a Blood Pressure Clinic for my church and Health Screening Program in my community--both free--and have provided an ear and Kleenex to many in dire straits).
To those who say to just say no to freeloaders--last time I did that--the next morning I came out to find that the car we park outside had been egged--could be just a coincidence, though, since I have a lot of teenagers in my neighborhood.
Money provides freedom, lots of money provides lots of freedom--if you don't trust a planner, then tie up your money in receiving the annuitized pmts, so your exposure to loss is limited--too bad David and Shawna thought they could handle the lump sum--this is a once in a lifetime event--there's no more where that came from.
I'm still thinking about the $200,000 and the trip to Vegas.
OK, he wins the Powerball, the OP said his share was $27,000,000. So in that respect at the time the $200,000 loan is chump change. He's going to retire the loan as soon as he gets his lottery check and not keep paying interest.
But as the story goes on he gets sued by the homeowners association for several thousand.
So at first that $200,000 was peanuts but how bad do you think he's like to have that $200,000 now?
Just my $.02 here - there's something else very, very disturbing about this story- and that is many, many people here have posted in threads about, "What would you do if you won....." and described a very similar course of action that this guy took.
"I'd go to Vegas"
"I'd buy a really hot Italian sports car or two"
"I'd buy a yacht"
etc...etc....
If there was ever a solid case for proving the need for reamining anonymous and for choosing to remain anonymousy, this is it.
Remaining anonymous is a great idea, but probably not realistic - even if the state's law allows it. You could do it if you want to continue with your current lifestyle (and working) and watch the interest grow unspent. Some folks might enjoy that, but not many.
If you have a tough time saying "no", a better option is to appoint a person to handle all money requests. That way, you don't ever have to say 'no'. Just say that "All financial requests are being handled by Mr. X" and hand over a card. Then, when they try to continue with their sad story, say, "Really, Mr. X is handling all of those requests, it would not be fair to handle your's differently." Then when Mr. X denies the request say, "Well, those decisions are really made by Mr. X on the merit of each case and how it compares to other request; perhaps you can approach Mr. X later, when the nature of other requests changes."
If I win the $40 million Florida Lotto jackpot tonight, I'll probably take the annuity. I used to think it was better to take the money & run, and still wonder about it. However, knowing every year that, no matter how badly you screw up your life, you'll still be getting a big check soon must be a very comforting feeling.
Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Aug 22, 2007
In memory of Cash Only...
If I win the $40 million Florida Lotto jackpot tonight, I'll probably take the annuity. I used to think it was better to take the money & run, and still wonder about it. However, knowing every year that, no matter how badly you screw up your life, you'll still be getting a big check soon must be a very comforting feeling.
Truly a sad story! But after Big Jack's story I saw this coming! I hope to win soon so I can set Kentucky's rep straight! This little ol'e "trailer trash" is gonna buy a double wide!
"If he followed my advice," says James Gibbs, his former financial adviser, "he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life."
I could darn well live very very nicely on that kind of monthly income! Yes, at first I would spend some serious cash on a few things, but for the most part, I'd be trying to grow my cash holdings to something more substantial (without to much risk).
Quote: Originally posted by nobie23 on Aug 22, 2007
did something happen to Cash Only??
Sorry - I just meant that he seems to have dropped out of here (or was thrown out) That's all. I think of him/her when I post anything about annual payments.
Truly a sad story! But after Big Jack's story I saw this coming! I hope to win soon so I can set Kentucky's rep straight! This little ol'e "trailer trash" is gonna buy a double wide!
I hear ya! I was thinking about that too .... on several acres overlooking the mountains of course. I lived in a singlewide for many years, so a nice doublewide would be fine. I wouldn't buy one in Florida unless I want to end up with Dorothy & Toto in Kansas. Even if you are completely joking, I think it would be a nice start to just get away for a while.
Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Aug 22, 2007
In memory of Cash Only...
If I win the $40 million Florida Lotto jackpot tonight, I'll probably take the annuity. I used to think it was better to take the money & run, and still wonder about it. However, knowing every year that, no matter how badly you screw up your life, you'll still be getting a big check soon must be a very comforting feeling.
You definitley have a point. I don't think there's been any horror stories of this intensity about annuity winners.
I say "of this intensity" because I'm sure some annuity winners have wound up selling their annuities for much less to collect a lump sum from one of those companies that do that.
I am reminded of a quote from the movie, "Wallstreet", where Gordon Gekko says, "A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place."
But this story is living proof that a fool and his money are soon seperated!
Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Aug 22, 2007
You definitley have a point. I don't think there's been any horror stories of this intensity about annuity winners.
I say "of this intensity" because I'm sure some annuity winners have wound up selling their annuities for much less to collect a lump sum from one of those companies that do that.
This story is worse than most because he and his girlfriend/wife were both serious druggies, but plenty of other people have followed a similar path. I don't think he spent it on drugs, but one of NY's first lotto winners had no choice but the annuity and easily squandered it as fast or faster than is rolled in. You can read about it here:http://weeklywire.com/ww/08-23-99/nash_cover.html
Everyone is writing that this is a sad story. Maybe a better word is "tragic," but I don't have any pity for someone who had a chance to turn his life around and chose a dark path to travel. The only victims here are the children. Many people who had a rough start in life would have looked at his incredible twist of fate as a miracle, a gift from a higher power to get a second chance. He made very bad choices and, even when he still had a chance to pick up and start all over again, he continued to dig his own grave. There were many people whose lives were turned upside down by 9/11, Katrina and other disasters who did something positive without millions of dollars. Sorry if I sound cold, but there are too many families here losing their homes for me to cry for Edwards.
how about some stories on those who are doing good with their winnings?
i want to hear stories about people who are gaining 100,000 dollars of interest a month and they drive nice cars and go to bed early and eat their vitamins and say their prayers.someone who gives back to the copmmunity,that don't do drugs or beat strange women at 3am........
Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Aug 23, 2007
Everyone is writing that this is a sad story. Maybe a better word is "tragic," but I don't have any pity for someone who had a chance to turn his life around and chose a dark path to travel. The only victims here are the children. Many people who had a rough start in life would have looked at his incredible twist of fate as a miracle, a gift from a higher power to get a second chance. He made very bad choices and, even when he still had a chance to pick up and start all over again, he continued to dig his own grave. There were many people whose lives were turned upside down by 9/11, Katrina and other disasters who did something positive without millions of dollars. Sorry if I sound cold, but there are too many families here losing their homes for me to cry for Edwards.
Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Aug 22, 2007
I'm still thinking about the $200,000 and the trip to Vegas.
OK, he wins the Powerball, the OP said his share was $27,000,000. So in that respect at the time the $200,000 loan is chump change. He's going to retire the loan as soon as he gets his lottery check and not keep paying interest.
But as the story goes on he gets sued by the homeowners association for several thousand.
So at first that $200,000 was peanuts but how bad do you think he's like to have that $200,000 now?
Just my $.02 here - there's something else very, very disturbing about this story- and that is many, many people here have posted in threads about, "What would you do if you won....." and described a very similar course of action that this guy took.
"I'd go to Vegas"
"I'd buy a really hot Italian sports car or two"
"I'd buy a yacht"
etc...etc....
If there was ever a solid case for proving the need for reamining anonymous and for choosing to remain anonymousy, this is it.
Coin Toss you made stated some valid points here! Until you actually win the lottery or come into a large amount of money no one really knows what they would do. Oh we would all do the obvious (pay bills, buy a new home, new cars, invest etc, etc.....) But what about the rest of your life. How would you deal with the constant harrasment from strangers asking for money. That is why you should definetly remain anoymous if at all possible. To me winning the lottery could be a blessing or a curse! I don't feel the least bit sorry for Mr. Edwards though, We all have to live with the decisions we make. (HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME AND HE BLEW IT!!!!!)
Quote: Originally posted by LOTTOMIKE on Aug 23, 2007
how about some stories on those who are doing good with their winnings?
i want to hear stories about people who are gaining 100,000 dollars of interest a month and they drive nice cars and go to bed early and eat their vitamins and say their prayers.someone who gives back to the copmmunity,that don't do drugs or beat strange women at 3am........
Umm no one wants to hear that. The media and the public in general want to hear about failure, hardship, and controversy among other things. They want to hear the most extreme negatives in isolated situations like this one, as it affirms their own unhappiness; being misery loves company. I followed David's storyline form the beginning, and I knew he was destined for ultimate failure. I wouldn't even spend $3 million my whole life let alone in months.
This is just another example of someone being ill-prepared and careless with a fortune that should have easily lasted many lifetimes. However your past can always come back to haunt you...as it did here. No one wants to here how good the West family is currently doing with their $300 million.
Quote: Originally posted by time*treat on Aug 22, 2007
...James Gibbs, a 31-year-old Morgan Stanley broker, as his financial adviser. The first thing Gibbs did was arrange a $200,000 loan so David could celebrate in Las Vegas while awaiting the Powerball payment...
I wonder how many people would want this guy as their "financial advisor" if they knew how freely he was willing to discuss his clients' dealings.
I like the advisor ; he was just not able to over-ride his boss a junkie and a real bum
because , " money don't make you smart or better ". The bigger you are the harder you fall ;
He made this bed for himself, says his ex-wife, Gail Blanton. She says she hopes he recovers, and that she wishes he had set aside some of the money for Tiffani, now 17.
"If he followed my advice," says James Gibbs, his former financial adviser, "he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life."
Gibbs says he put about $16 million of David's winnings in bonds and annuities, to protect David from himself. David cashed them out.
Quote: Originally posted by sirbrad on Aug 23, 2007
Umm no one wants to hear that. The media and the public in general want to hear about failure, hardship, and controversy among other things. They want to hear the most extreme negatives in isolated situations like this one, as it affirms their own unhappiness; being misery loves company. I followed David's storyline form the beginning, and I knew he was destined for ultimate failure. I wouldn't even spend $3 million my whole life let alone in months.
This is just another example of someone being ill-prepared and careless with a fortune that should have easily lasted many lifetimes. However your past can always come back to haunt you...as it did here. No one wants to here how good the West family is currently doing with their $300 million.
you make a good point ......just yesterday I thought about what I wuld do if I won the jackpot and how much I would give to my son and daughter :
it came to $10,000 .00 ea. because I knew my son would blow it in 90 days or less;
but in one day I could blow a $100.000 just giving ten thou to 10- family members and no one would be happy with such a small amount ;
There are concerns I have with so much money and what people would do to get it and what they do with it , could ruin their lives or make it better !!!!!
Edwards was profiled on a show called, "The Lottery Changed My Life." I remember thinking, even as I watched, that this man was on a mission to destroy himself.
Edwards told a story of how he went to pay for his gas one day, and he tipped the cashier $1,000. She blurted, "Sir, you gave me way too much money!" Edwards replied, "Oh, no, honey; that's your tip, but here's another thousand for being honest." This is the man who drank twelve-dollar bourbon from an $18,000 eighteenth-century beer stein. He was a poser, plain and simple; he wanted people to know, "Hey, I'm rich and you're not; don't you wish you were me?"
The simple fact is, Edwards was more concerned with, and more intrigued by, playing the Big Shot with deep pockets than he was in planning for the future of his family. He believed, as most people do, that money is an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. The money he won could have, and should have been sufficient to last through the lives of his grandchildren and beyond. But, because it was so important to Edwards to be the envy of everyone he met, he spent more time showing off than considering his wealth and how to manage it properly.
$85,000 per month equates to an income of $1,020,000.00 per year. Edwards defiantly spurned that security in favor of a lifestyle his fortune would not support. If one's income is $85,000 per month, but he's spending $100,000 per month, he should realize very soon that something must be done. Edwards had some very good people working in his interest, but he chose to ignore their advice because it didn't fit with his spending habits.
I'll say it again, folks; if you're planning to win a major jackpot (in excess of $10 million), pick up the phone and make an appointment to speak with a QUALIFIED financial planner. A qualified financial planner is not your brother-in-law who works at the bank, and she's not your sister who's a CPA. Look in the yellow pages under, "Financial Planning" or "Financial Planning Consultants." Call them and make an appointment; they'll be happy to sit down with you for an hour and walk you through the intricacies of what you'll need to do when you hit the big one. He can tell you what needs to be done in order to set up a trust, he'll explain your tax liabilities (present and future) and how you can minimize the taxes you'll pay on the income from your trust.
He'll also explain why you should make an effort to live within your means, no matter how much money you make. If you make $400 per week, and you want something that costs $1,000, you have up to three choices available to you: You can go to the bank or a family member and borrow the money; you can take the money from your savings, assuming you have that much in your account, or you can save $50 a week for five months. If your income is $85,000 per month, and you want something that costs $255,000, are you willing to commit your next three paychecks to that item just so you can have it right NOW? The samrt thing to do would be to wait a couple of months or so, until you can afford to spend that money without having the expenditure affect next month's check.
If you want your fortune to outlive you, talk to a qualified financial planner BEFORE you win your jackpot. If you do, all the information you'll need to make intelligent and informed decisions will come flooding into your mind just when you need it most. If you fail to take this step, or if you decide to wait until AFTER you cash in your winning ticket, you run a very significant risk of ending up like David Edwards or Jack Whittaker, simply because you won't have the knowledge you'll need at that crucial moment when you discover that all six numbers on your ticket match those that were drawn.
I'm just not smart enough to understand why people continue to pursue the lifestyle of a junkie once their wildest hopes and dreams have come true. What, exactly, are they trying to escape? How can illicit drugs possibly enhance one's current status as a multi-millionaire? If you find yourself buying cocaine and heroine to make your life easier following a jackpot win, maybe you should consider talking with a qualified psychotherapist, because you surely have issues which need to be addressed. I'm really not kidding about this; many, many rich people spend three to five hours a week in counseling sessions, because managing a large fortune can be somewhat stressful (notice, please, that I said managing, not spending).
Edwards should have realized he had some major problems; he had enough good people looking out for him who told him so. Had he listened to them, it's likely that he would be healthier today, and that his fortune would be largely intact. That was his first mistake - he hired a good financial planner, a good attorney and a good CPA, but then he failed to heed their advice. If you're going to pay people for their skills and services, you're simply throwing money away if you don't allow them to do their jobs.
Sudden wealth is called that because it's unexpected. That's why it's important to prepare yourself before it happens, in order to prevent what happened to Edwards and his family from happening to you and yours.
Gosh, to imagine having all of that cash, then, because of just being, for lack of a better word, Stupid/Pig Headed your broke and, at last report, very ill in a charity hospital.
It's clear, if you've been around such folks, that they lacked the insight and self discipline to act as you noted above. Given that, it was a safe bet to assume he'd blow the dough. I know many out there are blaming it on drugs, etc. I don't agree, this was just a classic case of someone who had only one plan; blow the cast. The drug habits, of course, didn't help matters and, probably, reinforced whatever spirits were motivating him in the first place.
Most of us could blow cash like he did. No problem. Drugs don't really cost all that much, so that's not the major issue. Ultimately, he is responsible for his actions. And his decisions. And, he made some really bad ones.
When I first saw him on the news when he won, he reminded me of a good ole' boy from the same area I knew in the Army. He could charm the birds out of the trees and get away with just about anything. Even worked on old senior NCO's. I had to double check his name to make sure it wasn't the same guy. My first feeling about Edwards was 'this guy is working a con'.
Guess he ended up working a real good one...on himself and family.
I hope when I win big on the lottery someday I just don't be sucked into temptations into making bad judgements & bad decisions like him. I know if not smart with your money you are going to fall by the wayside just like him & his wife.
Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Aug 22, 2007
Sorry - I just meant that he seems to have dropped out of here (or was thrown out) That's all. I think of him/her when I post anything about annual payments.
Truly a sad story! But after Big Jack's story I saw this coming! I hope to win soon so I can set Kentucky's rep straight! This little ol'e "trailer trash" is gonna buy a double wide!
I hear ya! I was thinking about that too .... on several acres overlooking the mountains of course. I lived in a singlewide for many years, so a nice doublewide would be fine. I wouldn't buy one in Florida unless I want to end up with Dorothy & Toto in Kansas. Even if you are completely joking, I think it would be a nice start to just get away for a while.
Quote: Originally posted by jim695 on Aug 23, 2007
Edwards was profiled on a show called, "The Lottery Changed My Life." I remember thinking, even as I watched, that this man was on a mission to destroy himself.
Edwards told a story of how he went to pay for his gas one day, and he tipped the cashier $1,000. She blurted, "Sir, you gave me way too much money!" Edwards replied, "Oh, no, honey; that's your tip, but here's another thousand for being honest." This is the man who drank twelve-dollar bourbon from an $18,000 eighteenth-century beer stein. He was a poser, plain and simple; he wanted people to know, "Hey, I'm rich and you're not; don't you wish you were me?"
The simple fact is, Edwards was more concerned with, and more intrigued by, playing the Big Shot with deep pockets than he was in planning for the future of his family. He believed, as most people do, that money is an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. The money he won could have, and should have been sufficient to last through the lives of his grandchildren and beyond. But, because it was so important to Edwards to be the envy of everyone he met, he spent more time showing off than considering his wealth and how to manage it properly.
$85,000 per month equates to an income of $1,020,000.00 per year. Edwards defiantly spurned that security in favor of a lifestyle his fortune would not support. If one's income is $85,000 per month, but he's spending $100,000 per month, he should realize very soon that something must be done. Edwards had some very good people working in his interest, but he chose to ignore their advice because it didn't fit with his spending habits.
I'll say it again, folks; if you're planning to win a major jackpot (in excess of $10 million), pick up the phone and make an appointment to speak with a QUALIFIED financial planner. A qualified financial planner is not your brother-in-law who works at the bank, and she's not your sister who's a CPA. Look in the yellow pages under, "Financial Planning" or "Financial Planning Consultants." Call them and make an appointment; they'll be happy to sit down with you for an hour and walk you through the intricacies of what you'll need to do when you hit the big one. He can tell you what needs to be done in order to set up a trust, he'll explain your tax liabilities (present and future) and how you can minimize the taxes you'll pay on the income from your trust.
He'll also explain why you should make an effort to live within your means, no matter how much money you make. If you make $400 per week, and you want something that costs $1,000, you have up to three choices available to you: You can go to the bank or a family member and borrow the money; you can take the money from your savings, assuming you have that much in your account, or you can save $50 a week for five months. If your income is $85,000 per month, and you want something that costs $255,000, are you willing to commit your next three paychecks to that item just so you can have it right NOW? The samrt thing to do would be to wait a couple of months or so, until you can afford to spend that money without having the expenditure affect next month's check.
If you want your fortune to outlive you, talk to a qualified financial planner BEFORE you win your jackpot. If you do, all the information you'll need to make intelligent and informed decisions will come flooding into your mind just when you need it most. If you fail to take this step, or if you decide to wait until AFTER you cash in your winning ticket, you run a very significant risk of ending up like David Edwards or Jack Whittaker, simply because you won't have the knowledge you'll need at that crucial moment when you discover that all six numbers on your ticket match those that were drawn.
I'm just not smart enough to understand why people continue to pursue the lifestyle of a junkie once their wildest hopes and dreams have come true. What, exactly, are they trying to escape? How can illicit drugs possibly enhance one's current status as a multi-millionaire? If you find yourself buying cocaine and heroine to make your life easier following a jackpot win, maybe you should consider talking with a qualified psychotherapist, because you surely have issues which need to be addressed. I'm really not kidding about this; many, many rich people spend three to five hours a week in counseling sessions, because managing a large fortune can be somewhat stressful (notice, please, that I said managing, not spending).
Edwards should have realized he had some major problems; he had enough good people looking out for him who told him so. Had he listened to them, it's likely that he would be healthier today, and that his fortune would be largely intact. That was his first mistake - he hired a good financial planner, a good attorney and a good CPA, but then he failed to heed their advice. If you're going to pay people for their skills and services, you're simply throwing money away if you don't allow them to do their jobs.
Sudden wealth is called that because it's unexpected. That's why it's important to prepare yourself before it happens, in order to prevent what happened to Edwards and his family from happening to you and yours.
Wow,
This is by far one of the BEST post on this site.
Another way to prepare is to read Susan Bradley's book Sudden Money.
It does not take the place of sitting down with a financial advisor (which I strongly believe should be done BEFORE the fact and not after)
....but it will give you insight on what you would want to discuss once you do meet with one.
"I want this money to last, for me, for my future wife, for my daughter and future generations."
At some point, David Lee Edwards got involved with another adviser, Jeffrey Chandler. In March 2003, David sued Chandler, claiming Chandler had bilked him out of $1 million. (The suit was ultimately settled out of court. Chandler could not be located to comment for this article.)
Shawna and David pleaded guilty to drug-possession charges and avoided jail.
He was booked for drug possession. On the arrest report, he's described as homeless.
On July 24, David missed another court appearance in West Palm Beach. Another attorney said that David was still in Kentucky and that he had an "infectious blood disease."
Sad story, but stupid is as stupid does...
Wow.
I agree, Forrest.
Wow what a sad story. What a waste!
wow what a story. You have the stories of how nice people make off with their money and then you have stories like these and good old Jack's.
I actually remember this drawing and seeing this guy on tv. Sad, sad story.
"If he followed my advice," says James Gibbs, his former financial adviser, "he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life." I just can't see how you could throw away $27,000,000. I didn't really think it was possible but now I am proven wrong. It sad that this is an all to common story of lottery winners.
Brad
It solunds like bad moves from the very get-go:
From the article:
The Edwards rocket was accelerating. David sought advice from lawyers in Ashland and hired James Gibbs, a 31-year-old Morgan Stanley broker, as his financial adviser. The first thing Gibbs did was arrange a $200,000 loan so David could celebrate in Las Vegas while awaiting the Powerball payment.
So you're unemployed, hit Powerball, and make a $200,000 loan to go to Vegas? I'll bet the wise guys in Vegas were betting among themselves on what the Over / Under would be on this guy blowing it all.
thanks for posting this story i wondered what happened to him because the lottery story on tv talked about them losing the home and i wondered where he ended up.
This is a horrible story. I remember seeing this guy on TV a few months ago. He was doomed from the start! How do you spend $3 million dollars in 3 months??? That is just absurd! Every story that I read that has this type of ending shows the power of money in the hands of a moron. I hope that if I ever win the jackpot, I will be able to maintin enough humility and sense to control the urges to overspend. The items that this guy purchased just made no sense at all. Mr. Gibbs, his first financial advisor, seems like he was a straight shooter. In the article, it reads as if he really cared and tried to help this guy maintain his money. It's not the money that was the problem, it was the person that the money was given too. This story just makes me sick! It's very depressing...*sigh*
...James Gibbs, a 31-year-old Morgan Stanley broker, as his financial adviser. The first thing Gibbs did was arrange a $200,000 loan so David could celebrate in Las Vegas while awaiting the Powerball payment...
I wonder how many people would want this guy as their "financial advisor" if they knew how freely he was willing to discuss his clients' dealings.
I'm pretty sure this was after-the-fact. A lot of people wouldn't say anything to the press if you read the OP.
I think this financial adviser is telling the story to give future winners a serious heads up.
And think about this from the OP:
"To a modern-day Euripides, the point would be that those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make suddenly rich."
Man, talk about distrubing!
Very sad but typical of those who come into sudden wealth.
Yet another example of how money does not change people (though it can change how people treat you). A person who abuses booze and drugs, who commits crimes, and makes bad choices with their life is likely to continue to do that with lots of money in the bank. I once heard a jackpot winner say "If you were miserable before the win, you will be miserable after the win." How true.
Of course, if he had let the lottery invest the cash amount - BEFORE taxes - he would have received his annual check for $3.7 million this month - no matter what the stock market was doing.
I agree with the remark about the financial advisor, but it's possible that Mr. Edwards insisted on taking out the loan. I don't trust all financial advisors, but I also know from experience that you can't stop someone from being irresponsible. When I sold cars or furniture, people who didn't have a pot to pee in would want to finance all sorts of luxuries. I learned the hard way that trying to help people will make you poor. Once a couple drove into the dealership with a car that had only 30K miles on it, and they were very upside down. So I told them it would be more prudent to wait another year or 2 and explained how, no matter how good a deal I gave them, they would be paying thousands over sticker price, since a new car depreciates the most during the first 24 months. They thanked me and left. A week later they came back, so I thought they changed their mind. They wanted to show me the new car they purchased up the road. (I have no idea why they came back to me...it was like kicking me in the teeth.) After that, I decided to be fair & honest, but to let adults make their own stupid choices.
Chuck & I posted at the same time, so I want to add that I agree with him. I don't think it's typical to hear these stories. I am 100% positive that if I won even a million dollars, I'd be set for life.
Typical? There have been over 220 Powerball jackpot winners. I only know of two that have had problems with their lives (other than the occaional paint chip on the Maybach).
The press loves to tell stories of "lottery winners" who have problems. Many of these big winners actually won prizes in the hundreds of thousands and do quickly go through it. You are not likely to see a big story on the thousand of winners who buy a new home, send their kids to college, start a business, take lots of nice trips (yawn).
That jackpot winners have tragic lives is a myth used to sell some media show or to sell slick finanical services (like the folks who put out their suvey findings that 90% of winners have spent their entire lottery winnings within five year - yeah right! - literally true if you are talking about the $5 winners).
This is a news story because it is unusual.
I agree. Bad news sells newspapers and increases ratings. It also makes juicy gossip, and most people enjoy their gossip.
Even though this article is not representative of most winners, it happens to be one of the better stories I have read that documents the tragic rise and downfall of a top-tier winner. The only thing missing is quotes from the key players themselves, but other than that I think it is exceptional in its detail.
What a read!
Makes me think that Jack should be coming up for sainthood any day now.
Chuck,
I had meant to say those who were in similar situations (drug addicts, ex-cons) such as the subject being profiled in the article.
I agree with you that many others who came from "better" backgrounds have fared much better with their winnings.
Well, it wasn't exactly a secret. The guy went on all the tv shows bragging about how much he paid for his watches and rings, I'm sure he's the one who told about the $200k trip to Vegas.
Them judging him for spending $3 mil in 3 months kind of irks me. When I win the Powerball tonight, I'll probably spend that much within 3 months after I claim it too. He spent much of it on a house, which is what I'll do. Of course, I'm smart enough (I hope) that I won't then go buy a couple dozen cars and kilos of drugs and fake antiques and my children's love with the rest of it. The rest will stay in the investments my advisors put it in and I'll live off the investment income.
Too true.
This is a great article. A nice record of how this winner burned out.
One thing to remember is that this money is not "lost". It was simply moved to someone else - realtors, car dealers, jewelry dealers, and sadly, sellers of trashy trinkets and drug dealers. That is likely the saddest part - better funding of drug dealers.
We all benefit from the lessons of the unwise few. You just don't need everything you see. That is a slave mentality. These people were obviously slaves to their appetites. I truly feel for them in a way. If you starve for a long period, you develop a food hording tendency. The same goes for cash and a fear of poverty. People like these need to take payments. It is unfortunate that some people live in the moment with no thought of tomorrow. Drug addicts commit slow suicide due to self hatred, maybe this is the case here.
There are plenty of stories where people have blown their newly found money.
I agree with Jeffery with what he said about people who starve for a long period, they tend to horde food. I was just thinking the same thing. I don't have a lot of money but I know that winning will just be over whelming! (IN A GOOD WAY...but there will be pressure) That's why I already planned my first couple of weeks. I'm going to be taking DEEP BREATHES. Really deep, calming breaths. When the money is finally given to me....while I'm taking deep breathes, me and my hubby get a couple thousand to go insane with. He can buy whatever his heart desires and so can I. Just get BUCK WILD! This is after my tithes are paid, of course. We get ONLY a couple of thousand. There HAS to be a limit. Once it's gone...it's gone...no touching what's left. Once it's spent on stupid useless crap....we've now gotten that out of our system...we can now be more level headed and more prepared to make better decisions.
Sounds like he ended up where he was headed before he won the lottery. Winning the lottery caused a slight detour.
When this guy was on 60 Minutes in 2004 or 5, he was one of 4 winners that looked like they would be successful with their winning. To my knowledge the others are still doing well.
The thing I remember most was when he talked of buying a suit of armor, "So what if it cost $50,000, I make that much a month in interest". Also, if my memory is correct, his wife was never mentioned.
It's a sad story and one I hope to learn from when I hit the Mega Millions on Friday.
LOL
Or merely caused it to happen more rapidly.
Sudden changes (for good OR bad) basically intensify behavior characteristics that are already there.
A recent article on handling sudden wealth on MSN Money pages pointed out that the first thing to those who find themselves in these circumstances is do to take a breather, then see a planner and put a plan in place that you can live with, then tie the rest of your money up so that even if you WANT to respond to those who will "put the touch on you", you cannot. I know that I can say NO as well as the next person but there are some types of sob stories that REALLY get to me--so I need protection against those who know this about me (as an ex-nurse, I run a Blood Pressure Clinic for my church and Health Screening Program in my community--both free--and have provided an ear and Kleenex to many in dire straits).
To those who say to just say no to freeloaders--last time I did that--the next morning I came out to find that the car we park outside had been egged--could be just a coincidence, though, since I have a lot of teenagers in my neighborhood.
Money provides freedom, lots of money provides lots of freedom--if you don't trust a planner, then tie up your money in receiving the annuitized pmts, so your exposure to loss is limited--too bad David and Shawna thought they could handle the lump sum--this is a once in a lifetime event--there's no more where that came from.
Unfortunately, I agree. People like that usually have a bad end.
RJOh, congrats on your past win in the Ohio Lottery.
Great post. I had watched his 'little' story on the Discovery Channel(?) about new lottery millionaires
and wondered if this fellow would stay clean. Apparently not.
I also wonder is people like this fellow know what a 'budget' is. Is that even in their vocabulary??
I'm still thinking about the $200,000 and the trip to Vegas.
OK, he wins the Powerball, the OP said his share was $27,000,000. So in that respect at the time the $200,000 loan is chump change. He's going to retire the loan as soon as he gets his lottery check and not keep paying interest.
But as the story goes on he gets sued by the homeowners association for several thousand.
So at first that $200,000 was peanuts but how bad do you think he's like to have that $200,000 now?
Just my $.02 here - there's something else very, very disturbing about this story- and that is many, many people here have posted in threads about, "What would you do if you won....." and described a very similar course of action that this guy took.
"I'd go to Vegas"
"I'd buy a really hot Italian sports car or two"
"I'd buy a yacht"
etc...etc....
If there was ever a solid case for proving the need for reamining anonymous and for choosing to remain anonymousy, this is it.
Remaining anonymous is a great idea, but probably not realistic - even if the state's law allows it. You could do it if you want to continue with your current lifestyle (and working) and watch the interest grow unspent. Some folks might enjoy that, but not many.
If you have a tough time saying "no", a better option is to appoint a person to handle all money requests. That way, you don't ever have to say 'no'. Just say that "All financial requests are being handled by Mr. X" and hand over a card. Then, when they try to continue with their sad story, say, "Really, Mr. X is handling all of those requests, it would not be fair to handle your's differently." Then when Mr. X denies the request say, "Well, those decisions are really made by Mr. X on the merit of each case and how it compares to other request; perhaps you can approach Mr. X later, when the nature of other requests changes."
In memory of Cash Only...
If I win the $40 million Florida Lotto jackpot tonight, I'll probably take the annuity. I used to think it was better to take the money & run, and still wonder about it. However, knowing every year that, no matter how badly you screw up your life, you'll still be getting a big check soon must be a very comforting feeling.
did something happen to Cash Only??
Truly a sad story! But after Big Jack's story I saw this coming! I hope to win soon so I can set Kentucky's rep straight! This little ol'e "trailer trash" is gonna buy a double wide!
"If he followed my advice," says James Gibbs, his former financial adviser, "he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life."
I could darn well live very very nicely on that kind of monthly income! Yes, at first I would spend some serious cash on a few things, but for the most part, I'd be trying to grow my cash holdings to something more substantial (without to much risk).
Winning the lottery is no guarantee that you won't have financial problems later in life.
Sorry - I just meant that he seems to have dropped out of here (or was thrown out) That's all. I think of him/her when I post anything about annual payments.
Truly a sad story! But after Big Jack's story I saw this coming! I hope to win soon so I can set Kentucky's rep straight! This little ol'e "trailer trash" is gonna buy a double wide!
I hear ya! I was thinking about that too .... on several acres overlooking the mountains of course. I lived in a singlewide for many years, so a nice doublewide would be fine. I wouldn't buy one in Florida unless I want to end up with Dorothy & Toto in Kansas. Even if you are completely joking, I think it would be a nice start to just get away for a while.
Such a sad story. He had the potential to really help people & to provide for his future & the future of his child.
You definitley have a point. I don't think there's been any horror stories of this intensity about annuity winners.
I say "of this intensity" because I'm sure some annuity winners have wound up selling their annuities for much less to collect a lump sum from one of those companies that do that.
sad so incredibly sad.
I am reminded of a quote from the movie, "Wallstreet", where Gordon Gekko says, "A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place."
But this story is living proof that a fool and his money are soon seperated!
This story is worse than most because he and his girlfriend/wife were both serious druggies, but plenty of other people have followed a similar path. I don't think he spent it on drugs, but one of NY's first lotto winners had no choice but the annuity and easily squandered it as fast or faster than is rolled in. You can read about it here:http://weeklywire.com/ww/08-23-99/nash_cover.html
Everyone is writing that this is a sad story. Maybe a better word is "tragic," but I don't have any pity for someone who had a chance to turn his life around and chose a dark path to travel. The only victims here are the children. Many people who had a rough start in life would have looked at his incredible twist of fate as a miracle, a gift from a higher power to get a second chance. He made very bad choices and, even when he still had a chance to pick up and start all over again, he continued to dig his own grave. There were many people whose lives were turned upside down by 9/11, Katrina and other disasters who did something positive without millions of dollars. Sorry if I sound cold, but there are too many families here losing their homes for me to cry for Edwards.
He hasn't posted for perhaps a year or so. My guess is that a lottery winner decided to take the annuity and he had a stroke.
Good one Floyd!
how about some stories on those who are doing good with their winnings?
i want to hear stories about people who are gaining 100,000 dollars of interest a month and they drive nice cars and go to bed early and eat their vitamins and say their prayers.someone who gives back to the copmmunity,that don't do drugs or beat strange women at 3am........
Amen! Say it again and again!
Coin Toss you made stated some valid points here! Until you actually win the lottery or come into a large amount of money no one really knows what they would do. Oh we would all do the obvious (pay bills, buy a new home, new cars, invest etc, etc.....) But what about the rest of your life. How would you deal with the constant harrasment from strangers asking for money. That is why you should definetly remain anoymous if at all possible. To me winning the lottery could be a blessing or a curse! I don't feel the least bit sorry for Mr. Edwards though, We all have to live with the decisions we make. (HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME AND HE BLEW IT!!!!!)
Umm no one wants to hear that. The media and the public in general want to hear about failure, hardship, and controversy among other things. They want to hear the most extreme negatives in isolated situations like this one, as it affirms their own unhappiness; being misery loves company. I followed David's storyline form the beginning, and I knew he was destined for ultimate failure. I wouldn't even spend $3 million my whole life let alone in months.
This is just another example of someone being ill-prepared and careless with a fortune that should have easily lasted many lifetimes. However your past can always come back to haunt you...as it did here. No one wants to here how good the West family is currently doing with their $300 million.
I like the advisor ; he was just not able to over-ride his boss a junkie and a real bum
because , " money don't make you smart or better ". The bigger you are the harder you fall ;
He made this bed for himself, says his ex-wife, Gail Blanton. She says she hopes he recovers, and that she wishes he had set aside some of the money for Tiffani, now 17.
"If he followed my advice," says James Gibbs, his former financial adviser, "he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life."
Gibbs says he put about $16 million of David's winnings in bonds and annuities, to protect David from himself. David cashed them out.
you make a good point ......just yesterday I thought about what I wuld do if I won the jackpot and how much I would give to my son and daughter :
it came to $10,000 .00 ea. because I knew my son would blow it in 90 days or less;
but in one day I could blow a $100.000 just giving ten thou to 10- family members and no one would be happy with such a small amount ;
There are concerns I have with so much money and what people would do to get it and what they do with it , could ruin their lives or make it better !!!!!
Wealth: No one should be rich except those who understand it.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Wow! What a Cautionary tale.
Money just makes us more of what we already are.
If you are an ass while working a 9 to 5 making $350.00/month. A 27 million dollar windfall is not going to induce you to become "born again".
Sadly, David Lee Edwards has cemented himself alongside Jack Whittaker as the poster twins for frivolity and imbecility.
When money is seen as a solution for every problem, money itself becomes the problem.
Richard Needham
Did I say $350/month?!
Damn, I think I would be an ass too!
I meant $350/week.
Edwards was profiled on a show called, "The Lottery Changed My Life." I remember thinking, even as I watched, that this man was on a mission to destroy himself.
Edwards told a story of how he went to pay for his gas one day, and he tipped the cashier $1,000. She blurted, "Sir, you gave me way too much money!" Edwards replied, "Oh, no, honey; that's your tip, but here's another thousand for being honest." This is the man who drank twelve-dollar bourbon from an $18,000 eighteenth-century beer stein. He was a poser, plain and simple; he wanted people to know, "Hey, I'm rich and you're not; don't you wish you were me?"
The simple fact is, Edwards was more concerned with, and more intrigued by, playing the Big Shot with deep pockets than he was in planning for the future of his family. He believed, as most people do, that money is an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. The money he won could have, and should have been sufficient to last through the lives of his grandchildren and beyond. But, because it was so important to Edwards to be the envy of everyone he met, he spent more time showing off than considering his wealth and how to manage it properly.
$85,000 per month equates to an income of $1,020,000.00 per year. Edwards defiantly spurned that security in favor of a lifestyle his fortune would not support. If one's income is $85,000 per month, but he's spending $100,000 per month, he should realize very soon that something must be done. Edwards had some very good people working in his interest, but he chose to ignore their advice because it didn't fit with his spending habits.
I'll say it again, folks; if you're planning to win a major jackpot (in excess of $10 million), pick up the phone and make an appointment to speak with a QUALIFIED financial planner. A qualified financial planner is not your brother-in-law who works at the bank, and she's not your sister who's a CPA. Look in the yellow pages under, "Financial Planning" or "Financial Planning Consultants." Call them and make an appointment; they'll be happy to sit down with you for an hour and walk you through the intricacies of what you'll need to do when you hit the big one. He can tell you what needs to be done in order to set up a trust, he'll explain your tax liabilities (present and future) and how you can minimize the taxes you'll pay on the income from your trust.
He'll also explain why you should make an effort to live within your means, no matter how much money you make. If you make $400 per week, and you want something that costs $1,000, you have up to three choices available to you: You can go to the bank or a family member and borrow the money; you can take the money from your savings, assuming you have that much in your account, or you can save $50 a week for five months. If your income is $85,000 per month, and you want something that costs $255,000, are you willing to commit your next three paychecks to that item just so you can have it right NOW? The samrt thing to do would be to wait a couple of months or so, until you can afford to spend that money without having the expenditure affect next month's check.
If you want your fortune to outlive you, talk to a qualified financial planner BEFORE you win your jackpot. If you do, all the information you'll need to make intelligent and informed decisions will come flooding into your mind just when you need it most. If you fail to take this step, or if you decide to wait until AFTER you cash in your winning ticket, you run a very significant risk of ending up like David Edwards or Jack Whittaker, simply because you won't have the knowledge you'll need at that crucial moment when you discover that all six numbers on your ticket match those that were drawn.
I'm just not smart enough to understand why people continue to pursue the lifestyle of a junkie once their wildest hopes and dreams have come true. What, exactly, are they trying to escape? How can illicit drugs possibly enhance one's current status as a multi-millionaire? If you find yourself buying cocaine and heroine to make your life easier following a jackpot win, maybe you should consider talking with a qualified psychotherapist, because you surely have issues which need to be addressed. I'm really not kidding about this; many, many rich people spend three to five hours a week in counseling sessions, because managing a large fortune can be somewhat stressful (notice, please, that I said managing, not spending).
Edwards should have realized he had some major problems; he had enough good people looking out for him who told him so. Had he listened to them, it's likely that he would be healthier today, and that his fortune would be largely intact. That was his first mistake - he hired a good financial planner, a good attorney and a good CPA, but then he failed to heed their advice. If you're going to pay people for their skills and services, you're simply throwing money away if you don't allow them to do their jobs.
Sudden wealth is called that because it's unexpected. That's why it's important to prepare yourself before it happens, in order to prevent what happened to Edwards and his family from happening to you and yours.
Lately I read it over and over like 5 times... I still find it very hard to believe!!!
I guee one observation we can make is a rich druggie is still a druggie.
Sad.
I was thinking along those lines also.
Gosh, to imagine having all of that cash, then, because of just being, for lack of a better word, Stupid/Pig Headed your broke and, at last report, very ill in a charity hospital.
It's clear, if you've been around such folks, that they lacked the insight and self discipline to act as you noted above. Given that, it was a safe bet to assume he'd blow the dough. I know many out there are blaming it on drugs, etc. I don't agree, this was just a classic case of someone who had only one plan; blow the cast. The drug habits, of course, didn't help matters and, probably, reinforced whatever spirits were motivating him in the first place.
Most of us could blow cash like he did. No problem. Drugs don't really cost all that much, so that's not the major issue. Ultimately, he is responsible for his actions. And his decisions. And, he made some really bad ones.
When I first saw him on the news when he won, he reminded me of a good ole' boy from the same area I knew in the Army. He could charm the birds out of the trees and get away with just about anything. Even worked on old senior NCO's. I had to double check his name to make sure it wasn't the same guy. My first feeling about Edwards was 'this guy is working a con'.
Guess he ended up working a real good one...on himself and family.
Oh my. Old habits die hard indeed. A self-destructive personality. He couldn't handle being a winner, and was more comfortable a loser.
I hope when I win big on the lottery someday I just don't be sucked into temptations into making bad judgements & bad decisions like him. I know if not smart with your money you are going to fall by the wayside just like him & his wife.
The truly rich wear common clothes and carry their treasure in their hearts
Tao Te Ching
I see they have two story trailers.
I remember this guy! He was featured on A&E a while back with 4 other jackpot winners!
Wow,
This is by far one of the BEST post on this site.
Another way to prepare is to read Susan Bradley's book Sudden Money.
It does not take the place of sitting down with a financial advisor (which I strongly believe should be done BEFORE the fact and not after)
....but it will give you insight on what you would want to discuss once you do meet with one.