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We’ve all heard the stories of professional athletes going broke. Poor financial planning and spending habits mixed with an over-the-top lifestyle is usually to blame. But the case of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson is much different.
Johnson (27) has somehow had to file bankruptcy during his active playing career. In the midst of a season where he’ll earn $5 million, he’s had to tap out financially.
So, how in the heck did this happen?
Clearly, poor financial planning is to blame. But more specifically, it sounds like poor financial planning from Johnson’s parents is to blame.
Here’s what we know via The Columbus Dispatch:
“In 2011, in the weeks leading up to Johnson’s first big contract — a seven-year, $30.5 million deal signed with the Los Angeles Kings, under which he now plays for the Blue Jackets — Johnson signed a power of attorney that granted his mother full control of his finances… Tina Johnson borrowed at least $15 million in her son’s name against his future earnings, sources told The Dispatch, taking out a series of high-interest loans — perhaps as many as 18 — from nonconventional lenders that resulted in a series of defaults.”
Johnson had been sued multiple times (because his name was on the loans), and is now in debt, possibly to the tune of $15 million. His bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for January 23rd.
