Posted on 04/08/2007 10:34:54 PM PDT by blackbeardsghost
Whittaker bought and decorated an elaborate home for Bragg and her mother that included a perfect recreation of the bottle from the 1960's TV sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie." He also gave Brandi about $2,000 a week and bought her four new cars. Whittaker said while Bragg was only 17 years old at the time, she was very responsible with her money.
"To a young kid cars mean a lot," Whittaker said. "She had four cars and I'm very proud that she had four cars."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
O Lord, curse me!
Neil Boortz was right about lotto winners afterall !
ping
You can take the man out of the trailer, but you can’t take the trailer out of the man.
Money is not the root of evil. The lottery winnings didn’t cause the problem. He could have packed up and moved somewhere else, ignored the requests for money, cut off funds to his grandaughter, donated his money as he saw fit, invested the rest in fixed-income securities, established trusts, etc.
There are many who feel cursed by some heavy thing in their life, and their are others who cannot free themselves from the thing the have become...
but God can free us. What became a curse becomes a blessing, and what binds us is broken; no matter the burden, be it gold or the grave, it becomes Grace in the hands of God.
this guy is not trailer trash, read the article
“Rob Dunlap, one of Whittaker’s many attorneys, said Whittaker has spent at least $3 million dollars fending off lawsuits.
“I’ve had over 400 legal claims made on me or one of my companies since I’ve won the lottery, “ said Whittaker.
When asked why that might happen, Whittaker said it’s because “everybody wants something for nothing.”
In this case it sounds like cars are.
I agree. Giving a 17 year old two grand a week for allowance is razy. What did grandpa think she needed that much money for? If it’s for college, set it up in an account. Otherwise it is way too much for a kid.
His biggest mistake was to go public and appear on TV shows.
Did you read the whole thing?
Please Lord, don’t curse me.
No, the money was not the problem. He can’t bring himself to admit he messed up so he blames it on a curse as though the money held a gun to his head and made him make bad decisions. The lottery is not a curse. People who have little money can also completely wreck themselves and their families. If he had not become wealthy it is likely he’d be blaming his problems on drinking, etc. Sometimes I think the media just loves stories about screwed up lottery winners to discourage people from striving to be rich.
Since this is a strip club, I'm assuming it wasn't a Coke he was picking up, in which case he's got way bigger problems than just the Curse of the Lottery.
He was a hardworking, self-made guy: read the article.
Exactly. He made a crapload of bad choices, and won’t accept responsibility for it. A smart lottery winner would create a number of holding companies with nominees and stay off the TV!
And if you wanted to donate a lot do it anonymously. But noooo. Had to have his name out there. Heck I wouldn’t tell a soul except my law firm I’d hire prior to actually claiming the ticket. And that I would have the lawyers do and I would never make myself even known.
And for chrissakes don’t give a young kid a crapload of money and be proud of it!
Tho, most smart people don’t play lottery, really.
Duhhhh, when anybody wins a major lottery prize isn’t actually awarding the prize conditional on letting the lottery people publicize the winner’s name, face, and address all over creation?
And what do riches profit a man, except that he may lay eyes on them - Ecclesiastes
... as I recall it!
Ever since I sat down and thought through it, and realized that if lightning ever struck, and I did win it, that it would be one of the worst possible things that could happen to me, I stopped buying powerball tickets.
I think striving to be rich is great. I strive to be rich. I may not make it, but if I do, it'll be by earning it. If someone dumps a hundred mill in my lap, though, it would turn me into something worthless. Perhaps you, and many others here, are made of better stuff. But, I know my tendencies and I'm best off working.
He certainly made some bad decisions, and I suspect the roots of some of the problems predate his winning the lottery. It’s still a very sad story, though.
We are made out of the very same stuff. You’d be fine. You’d take care of yourself. Nothing will ever make you worthless. You are very worthy indeed.
Well, he needed to adopt “ef off” as his middle name. His life would have become so much easier.
His business did 15 Million the year he won the Lotto !
He didn't need the money at all !
The ABC story didn’t shed near enough light on this story. He had an opportunity to seed a lot of money into businesses into this state to help stir the economy. Yet the only thing he stirs up is jackassery. I feel no pity for the man or his family.
I always figured keep it quiet, low profile, never say how much you won IF you even tell anyone you did. Probably better not too at all. make graceful exits from your job, have a cover story, interview financial advisors, invest, diversify.
You have a new job, manage that money.
GET OUT OF DODGE.
Slowly start building your new life, and be smart about it.
These people go ape, they tell the world, they spend gobs of money foolishly though perhaps good intentioned, they are reckless.
That kind of money is not money anymore.
It is an engine. It is a gift that must be respected because of the amazing things you can do with it.
Short term yeah, you can put on a show and blow gobs like this guy did.
long term, you could do SO much more good work for people, investing it, growing it, managing it properly.
Sad. They should counsel winners about this stuff.
It's not just lotteries. Kids inheriting a fortune face the same trauma.
Here's the deal: money amplifies your existing habits. If you had a slight spending problem before getting the big windfall, then you will have a large spending problem after.
On the other hand, if you were living within your means based solely on your own personal fiscal discipline, then you'll probably do fine. Not every kid who inherits daddy's company blows it, after all.
The trick is always to spend *less* than your income so that you are always growing richer. Hard to go wrong that way...
It's in return for the payment. You have to be part of the lottery's publicity machine, otherwise, nobody would know someone won, and people would stop buying tickets.
No publicity, no money.
Mark
One thing about trailer trash they OWN something however apartment trash are OWNED.
It's in return for the payment. You have to be part of the lottery's publicity machine, otherwise, nobody would know someone won, and people would stop buying tickets.
Not quite right. They print your name so that other lotto players will know that the winner is not connected to the lottery and everything is on the up and up. This is law in most states that hold lotteries.
That being said, if you go on TV, or give extended interviews, the lottery WILL set that up in the name of publicity, but it isn't a requirement to getting the prize. As long as you are of age and you broke no rules in obtaining the ticket, you will get your prize.
If I won I would leave my job, sell my house, change my phone number, get a good lawyer, and financial adviser, BEFORE I turned in the ticket. Give the lottery the absolute minimum information, and get out of Dodge for several months at least. I would take a vacation, and keep my circumstances to myself. That isn't a cure all but it's better than "appearing on 8 TV shows" in the first couple of days.
"..By the time Whittaker won the lottery, he said, he was doing $16 million to $17 million worth of work. He enjoyed years of success with few complaints, but less than a year after winning the lottery things began to change.
Rob Dunlap, one of Whittaker's many attorneys, said Whittaker has spent at least $3 million dollars fending off lawsuits.
"I've had over 400 legal claims made on me or one of my companies since I've won the lottery, " said Whittaker..."
I bet he got sued over every little real or imagined defect in every construction job he did over the few years preceding his win.
Going as public as he did was a mistake, but a bunch of lawsuits would probably have hit him anyway.
I will gladly take the money....
.....I know I can deal with it a whole lot better than this guy.
El Rushbo himself has spoken about how all the money changed his life.
Its pretty scary and dangerous.
If it happened to me I would have to totally change my life and put everyone who I know now out of my life.
The least you can do if you win a jackpot is to collect it in secret.
There are a couple of states where you do not have to disclose your name but in the others your name is disclosed, but you do not have to give interviews. I heard the lottery suggests you give one interview at least or the reporters would hunt you down. Whitaker sought out publicity compounding his problems.
If he had a drinking problem drinking would be the last thing he'd blame his problems on.
When I was sixteen my dad bought me a new car. I went out and got drunk and totalled it.
So he bought me a new car. I went out and got drunk and totalled it.
So he bought me a new car.
I think my dad’s trying to kill me. (I forget the comic’s name)
Yep. So you change your looks for the appearances.
And you hire some good lawyers and accountants. . .
That’s not how it works in the FL lotto system. Must be a powerball thing.
True, but his very first decision should have been to donate 10% of his winnings to the Lord and charity (31.5 million). Maybe he will still do that when he wakes up. Amen.
This guy and one of his old companies beat our company out of about 20,000.00 in the 1980’s. He got what he deserves. He is no Boy Scout!
“And what do riches profit a man, except that he may lay eyes on them - Ecclesiastes”
Here’s one for you:
“The Lord maketh rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.”
A sad story and sadly he still doesn't get it. He was engaged in a life of sin before winning the lottery and it only got worse after he won the lotto. For real freedom he needs to repent and turn to God.
People who buy Powerball tickets have already proven that they cannot handle money. So, it stands to reason,,,,
Not here in Oklahoma. A recent big winner (>$100k) followed the advice in farlander's post just before yours (lawyers, blind trusts, etc.). Really cheesed off the media...some have pushed for a change in the law. I think they should keep it as is so the winners have the choice of the level of publicity desired.
His beloved granddaughter got on drugs; disappeared and was found dead some weeks later wrapped in a plastic sheet - murder, overdose?
Mrs VS
What amazes me in this thread are the number of replies that show the posters read only the first fews lines of the story and then assumed the rest.
Not necessarily - there are many trailer parks that are rental units...
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