JESSE OWENS BANKRUPT
ASSETS £100; LIABILITIES £I6OO. Admirers of Jesse Owens will be sorry to hear that he has been forced into bankruptcy. Liabilities were listed at a little over £I6OO and assets around £4OO. Although the 1936 Olympic triple winner has a position with a distillery firm, he finds he is unable to meet his debts, and reluctantly had to declare himself insolvent.
This incident indicates quite plainly that while Jesse was one of the greatest track athletes (if not the greatest) of all time, he is a poor business man. Also, it points out once again that a champion runner can earn more money in America by remaining an amateur, if he knows the right business angle. For instance, one of America’s present great amateur runners comes from a poor family, and started his teaching career only last year. Yet he was taxed in 1938 by the United States Government on an income of more than £6OOO. A famous American woman tennis star has paid income tax on £5600 for the last 10 years.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT19390710.2.49.4
Bibliographic details
Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 160, 10 July 1939, Page 5
Word Count
176JESSE OWENS BANKRUPT Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 160, 10 July 1939, Page 5
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Manawatu Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.