1. Mike Tyson’s Abandoned Mansion
Mike Tyson was a heavyweight boxing champion since he was 18 years old. He became a multimillionaire at a young age, and in 1980, he bought a mansion in Southington, Ohio. The estate included a large swimming pool, zebra carpets, crystal chandeliers, and other luxurious features. Mike Tyson had a net worth of $400 million at the time. Tyson’s legendary lifestyle came to an end in 1992 when he was sentenced to prison for sexual assault. In 1998, he was engaged in a car accident. He jumped out of the car and assaulted the other drivers bodily. Tyson’s life began to fall apart, and he began to have financial issues. Mike Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003. He described himself as “completely destitute.”
Paul Monea, a multimillionaire, paid $1.3 million for the property. Unfortunately, Monea’s purchase of the historic estate had ulterior purposes. He was attempting to sell a diamond known as The Golden Eye and had set the house’s price at $20 million as part of a package transaction. Monea was apprehended by an FBI agent posing as a drug cartel leader’s agent, which landed him in jail. Ron Hemelgarn, a wealthy fitness club entrepreneur, bought the property for $600,000 in 2010. He eventually gave up trying to develop a health club and donated the property to Living Word Sanctuary Church, a small church with 200 members. They were finally able to open in 2019 after years of waiting.
