The Corruption of Wealth

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I read a shocking article at the Washington Post last night called "Rich Man, Poor Man", about West Virginian Jack Whittaker's $314 million Powerball jackpot win on Christmas 2002. Apparently this month, Jack is claiming he has now lost the bulk of his fortune to thieves.

What really creeped me out about this article was the transition of irresponsibility from Jack and his family after falling into this ridiculously enormous windfall. It's as if the money  possessed them and they ceased to have any type of rational control over themselves. They totally squirreled out.

If you have a spare 15 minutes, all five pages of the article are horrifying but worth the entire read. It serves as a good reminder of the hidden dangers and corruptive dark side that wealth can bring.  Some portions are highlighted below.

"... Jack's big win was viewed as one of the greatest Christmas gifts in his poor state's history, a holiday miracle to be heralded around the globe. Jack proclaimed that he would tithe a biblical 10 percent of his winnings, donate millions to his family's favorite pastors and build big new churches. He vowed to start a charitable foundation to help needy West Virginians. "I just want to thank God for letting me pick the right numbers . . . or letting the machine pick the right numbers," he said as he claimed his check.

Civic-minded citizens hailed Jack as a hero, the state's antidote to mean-spirited hillbilly jokes. Sure, dental woes had left the strapping cowboy-man without a tooth in his head. But Jack sounded so well-intentioned on TV that some people said he should run for governor."

" ... On New Year's Eve 2002, West Virginia's most famous do-gooder strolled into the Pink Pony, a strip club in the nearby town of Cross Lanes, and, according to the manager, slapped $50,000 on the bar."

"... But people still found him to ask for money. They telephoned his home and rang his doorbell. Given the size of Jack's fortune, some were reluctant to go away empty-handed. A few threatened Jack's family. Off-duty deputies from the Putnam County Sheriff's Department began providing private security for his family."

"... Over the months, the once-dapper Jack grew slovenly, Misty says: "He would come in a sloppy shirt, all wrinkled. His hat would be dirty. He'd be unshaven." And he became demanding. "At first he was, like: 'I'm Jack Whittaker. I won all this money, yay for me,'" Misty says. "Later it was, like: 'I'm Jack Whittaker. You'll do what I say . . . I have more money than God.' Who talks like that?  It was like the money was eating away at whatever was good in him."

"... People made bitter comments behind Brenda's back about how they'd had to work hard for a house in Moss Creek, and she'd had one handed to her. For the first time, Brenda saw herself through her neighbors' eyes. "It was like I was white trash moving into their posh neighborhood," she says. Heartsick, Brenda sold the house that Jack bought and moved away."

"... Suddenly, Brandi had large sums of cash. It wasn't unusual for her to be handed $5,000 in a single day, according to family friend Becky Layton. Concerned about security, the family pulled Brandi out of high school. Old friendships frayed. "Before the lottery, she was normal, real friendly," says Tim Cobb, 18, who describes himself as one of Brandi's best friends at the time. "She let the money go to her head."

"... Brandi became "a crackhead, if you want to know the truth," says J.C. Shaver, 20, who saw her smoke "a lot of crack. Big rocks of crack."

" ... Brandi's custom-painted, pale-blue Mitsubishi Eclipse was a trash bin. Floor and seats were mounded with candy wrappers, empty pop bottles, packaging from electronic gadgets and DVDs and the crumpled change from Brandi's $100 bills: loose fives, tens and twenties. As the kids cruised, money would "fly around the car," Smith says. "Sometimes it would fly out the window."

"... When Eads's daughter returned to the bar after waiting tables, Jack told her directly that he wanted to have sex with her and offered to pay. "He said, 'Money can buy anything,'" Eads says. "She said, 'Not me, it can't.'"

" ... On Friday, Jimmy's brother came into the shop to say they'd found a boy dead over at Jack's house in Scott Depot. It looked like an overdose. "

" ... Jessie had died of an overdose, a combination of oxycodone, methadone, meperidine and cocaine, according to his death certificate. "She's the only one with money to buy drugs like that," Shaver says. "Everybody knew she was the reason for his death." As the mob outside the funeral home denounced her, Brandi didn't even try to defend herself, Shaver says. "She just stood there."

"... When Brandi came to the door, she looked nothing like the girl whose Paw-Paw won the single largest undivided lottery jackpot in history. That girl had a proud, beaming face framed with fluffy light-blonde hair. This Brandi was disheveled. Her baggy clothes hung on her. Her face was sunken. The Hurricane townhouse where she sometimes stayed was in spectacular disarray: furniture askew, drawers pulled out, walls defaced with graffiti."

" ... On Monday, December 20, almost two years after Jack bought the winning Powerball ticket, police found Brandi on the Crosier property. She was dead. Her body had been wrapped in a plastic tarp and dumped behind a junked van in a place called Scary Creek."

The worst part is the young death of Jack's granddaughter and her friend. No amount of money in the world can bring them back. Wealth can be a glamorous notion, but if abused, it only serves as a curse. I feel Jack's story illustrates how little it can actually buy, especially in terms of spirituality and happiness. I hope his family can successfully recover from this tragic chain of horror.

Iwillteachyoutoberich's Ramit Sethi just posted this insightful article over at his blog, about 8 lottery winners who lost their millions.

=^..^=

Comments

[J.R.]

Hi Jenn,

I saw him on television back when he won and for some reason, every now and then, I wondered how he made out. Shocking.

About your blog, you're a great writer. I keep tabs on it. Found you through J.Chow, hope you've kept the ball rolling since!

[Jo]

Sad and frustrating.

On a lighter note, I just found your blog through a search for articles about IGoBanking. You're great! Its so important for us kids to understand money and take it seriously. I'm definitely bookmarking this blog.