The financial troubles of CNET's founder, Halsey Minor, continue to worsen.
In 2008, CBS bought CNET Networks for $1.8 billion, netting Minor an estimated $200 million. But just last week, the 47-year-old founder filed for personal bankruptcy.
Minor owes as much as $100 million and has no more than $50 million to pay his debts, reports Bloomberg's Dawn McCarty and Ari Levy.
Minor left CNET in the late 1990s and formed other companies. He also spent money on houses, hotels, horses and other real estate ventures that didn't pan out.
Minor dabbled as a tech angel investor through a firm called Minor Ventures. That wasn't a bust. One of the companies he backed was GrandCentral Communications, report Mcarty and Levy. It sold to Google in 2007 for about $65 million and became Google Voice.
But when Minor switched to real estate investing, he got himself in trouble. For instance, in 2008, he bought the 400-plus acre estate Carter’s Grove Plantation for $15.3 million. Carter's Grove filed for bankruptcy in 2011, according to court documents.
By 2010, Minor was selling assets to pay creditors. That year, he sold $21.1 million worth of artwork to pay bills, and Sotheby’s Inc. won a $6.6 million judgement against him for more art he bought at auction and didn't pay for.
Sotheby's is listed as a creditor along with a bunch of lawyers, some horse breeders and trainers, and many others.
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