All about business

1. Jamie Kennedy, 52

Famed Toronto restaurateur, an iconoclast champion of local food culture, has strained the patience of his suppliers and bankers as the recession cut sharply into business at Kennedy’s upscale eatery in the Gardiner Museum and cost overruns plagued a badly timed renovation of Jamie Kennedy Kitchens. The Gardiner outlet has been downsized, and Kennedy has offered to sell the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and his charcuterie at The Healthy Butcher.

2. Michael Jackson (1958–2009)

Last spring, the late pop superstar defaulted on a

$24.5 million (U.S.) loan backed by his Neverland Estate in Santa Barbara County, Calif., and was forced to sell control of the 1,053-hectare fantasy park. The singer’s debts stood at an estimated $500 million (U.S.) at the time of his death at age 50, reportedly of cardiac arrest, Thursday.

3. Bernie Kosar, 45, former NFL star

Star quarterback of the NFL Cleveland Browns for eight years beginning in 1985, Kosar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy June 20, undone by reversals in his real estate and restaurant businesses. His Bernie Kosar’s Steakhouse went out of business last year.

4. Victoria Gotti, 47, daughter of late Gambino family crime boss John Gotti

Daughter of the late crime boss John Gotti, she is behind $650,000 (U.S.) on the mortgage on her $4.2 million Long Island estate, used as the backdrop for her reality TV show, Growing Up Gotti.

5. Damon Dash, 38, co-founder of Rockafella Records

The hip-hop mogul and cofounder, with Jay-Z, of Rockafella Records, counts the likes of Beyonc? and Victoria Beckham as business associates, but faces foreclosure on his two Manhattan apartments worth a combined $7.3 million (U.S.).

6. Veronica Hearst, 64, widow of publishing magnate Randolph Hearst

The New York socialite, widow of publishing mogul Randolph Hearst, lost her $45 million (U insure car insurence.S.), 52-room second home, an oceanfront mansion near Palm Beach, to foreclosure in February 2008.

7. Lenny Dykstra, 46, former Phillies and Mets star

A potent threat to the 1993 World Series-winning Blue Jays, the former Philadelphia Phillies slugger-turned-investment guru lost heavily on The Players Club, a lifestyle magazine for pro athletes and faces foreclosure on his $18.5 million (U.S.) mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

8. Martha Stewart, 67

Stock in the fashion maven’s Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. has tanked after a $16.8-million (U.S.) loss in this year’s first quarter due to falling magazine ad revenue and sluggish sales of Stewart-branded goods at Kmart. Stewart’s stake in her company has lost 92 per cent of its value since the stock’s 2005 high.

9. Kevin Bacon, 50

The Prominent actor is among the victims of Bernie Madoff’s colossal Ponzi scheme. "I need to work, for obvious reasons," says Bacon, who starred in JFK and Apollo 13.

10. Gordon Ramsay, 42, UK celebrity chef and restaurateur

Rottweiler-mannered TV chef has slashed staff at his restaurants and is reputed to have violated terms of a loan.

11. Annie Leibowitz, 59, Rolling Stone photographer

Veteran Rolling Stone photographer and pioneer in rock-star portraiture has put up her entire body of work as collateral for a multi-million loan to pay off mortgages and other obligations.

12. Lily Allen, 24, UK singing sensation

British singing sensation allowed overspending to catch up with her, and has had to part with her Beemer. "I was hit big time by the credit crunch," Allen says.

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