Are you wondering how a man such as 50 Cent, who Forbes estimated had a net worth of $155 million in 2015, could file for bankruptcy on Monday?
Well, the chapter 11 filing came just three days after a judge ordered the rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, to pay a woman $5 million in damages after it was determined he posted a 2009 sex tape online without her permission.
The move seems purely strategic as the 40-year-old told E! News at the “Southpaw” junket on Monday that he was taking the necessary precautions that any “good businessperson” would take in his situation.
“You know when you’re successful and stuff, you become a target. I don’t wanna be a bull’s-eye,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to pick me as the guy that they just come to with astronomical claims and go through all that.”
The rapper went on to list other notable people who have filed for bankruptcy, including Walt Disney and Donald Trump.
“It means you’re reorganizing your finances, but it does stop things from moving forward that you don’t want moving forward,” he said, adding, “I gotta decent legal team. You don’t have to worry.”
According to court documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford, Connecticut, the rapper “reported assets and debts each in the range of $10 million to $50 million.”
A spokesperson for the law firm that is representing the rapper said in a statement to CNN that 50 Cent filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy “to continue his involvement with various business interests and continue his work as an entertainer, while he pursues an orderly reorganization of his financial affairs.” The spokesperson added that the rapper’s business interests “will continue unaffected” during the bankruptcy proceedings.
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