Tito Trinidad bankrupt...

According to an article published on Thursday by Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia, former three-division champion Felix “Tito” Trinidad is broke and seeking court-mandated relief on his personal debt after finding out that his top aide, Jose “Pepe” Ramos, squandered over $63 million on now-worthless government bonds. Ramos was Trinidad’s personal English-Spanish interpreter for many years, but also served as an investment advisor, a position he held since 1991. He was also a personal friend of the fighter’s family, and was the best man in Trinidad’s wedding. El Nuevo Dia has indicated that Ramos was in turn "hired" as a consultant by three different investment funds (Wells Fargo Advisor, UBS and Popular Securities) only because he was in charge of managing a large percentage of the fighter’s reported $85 million in earnings. Now, Ramos is being singled out by the Trinidads as the only culprit in a series of bad investment decisions allegedly made without the consent or knowledge of the fighter and his father, Felix Trinidad Sr., who is also his former trainer/manager. Even though Ramos supposedly had a very specific mandate to make the most conservative possible investments to protect that fund, he instead reportedly gambled heavily on Puerto Rican government bonds, which were recently downgraded to "junk bond" status. The beleaguered island-state (a "free-associated state" of the United States) is currently under enormous financial stress, and most of the local financial industry is in turmoil. On Thursday, Trinidad’s legal team presented a petition of interdiction in San Juan, asking for a mediation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the matter. Trinidad now allegedly has about $9 million in assets, but almost $30 million in debt. It is unclear whether his legal action will have any kind of positive impact in his suddenly dire economic situation. One of Puerto Rico’s greatest and most beloved fighters of all time, Trinidad (42-3, 35 KOs) made close to $90 million dollars in a career that spanned 18 years and 21 title fights, and he still holds the record as the longest-reigning welterweight titlist (6 years and 4 months), to which he later added the 154- and 160-pound title belts. His victory in the 1999 “Fight of the Millenium” against Oscar De La Hoya netted him a guarantee of over $10 million dollars, the biggest purse of his career. In 2011, a still-wealthy Trinidad jokingly "gave" his estranged former promoter Don King a $425,000 gift for his 80th birthday, in what was actually a cancelation of an old debt stemming from Trinidad’s 2008 fight against Roy Jones Jr., which ended up being his last professional fight. From: The Ring online

Comments (20)

Its sad to see how hard this man worked for 18 years, taking thousands punches, running thousands of miles, and in the end he leaves his finincial fate at the hands of a friend who was not qualified to be a financial advisor. He could have brought stocks that pay him dividends no matter how bad the economy gets (ex-coke, walmart) and get revenue coming in every quarter. The crazy thing is that its really not that hard to invest your own money if your willing to learn and research a few hours a week. I wish him all the best.

12y ago

LarryX

Thats messed up..

12y ago

paulf

Another idiot with too much money and too less intelligence. Oh my god.. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

12y ago

Weltschmerz

Another idiot with too much money and too less intelligence.

12y ago

boliodogs

This is extra sad to me because he was my favorite fighter. Usually ex fighters go broke because of foolish crazy spending. Trinidad was trying to be wise with his money and trusted the wrong guy.

12y ago

The_Gambler1981

Always sad to hear stuff like that

12y ago

paulf

So sad. I remember a few years ago he forgave 500k that Don King owed him for Don's birthday and I thought "Damn, Tito must have saved his pennies"

12y ago

Bigg_Rigg

I read somewhere that Puerto Rico was worse than Detroit in term of being bankrupt Only a idiot would buy those bonds. Trinidad should've got a real investor who wasn't a complete moron Puerto Rico is a ****ing mess! And Tito is an idiot!

12y ago

Jack_Napier

Trinidad/Mayorga II. Book it. this is might actually be viable since Mayorga is somehow STILL around milking those 2 Forrest wins from a decade ago :lol1:

12y ago

jtcs1981

Hahahaha what a complete idiot... No sympathy for him wasting his cash. The complete idiot is you who dont know what happened and still gives a stupid opinion. If you would read the article, he did not throw away his money he was just too stupid to keep track of it and depended on his financial advisor which for some insane reason bought all bonds with the money. He has been retired long enough to at least know what's going on with his investments. Tito is not a smart business man. He is a jibaro and one that will do exactly as he is told. I read somewhere that Puerto Rico was worse than Detroit in term of being bankrupt Only a idiot would buy those bonds. Trinidad should've got a real investor who wasn't a complete moron PR cant bankrupt. The constitution does not allows it. PR bonds were the best thing to invest when they started investing. No taxes and PR never default. They pay all the time. The credit rating is due to the economy and the stupid spending. I happen to be a bond trader. So here are the facts. 1. He cant be bankrupt, because PR has not defaulted, nor have they missed any interest payments as of yet. 2. The actual article states he made that much during his career, not that this was his total investment. 3. His FA invested his money in PR Bond MUTUAL FUNDS not individual bonds. Funds have to unload bonds when they fall below investment grade. Which only recently happened to PR. We dont know when the investment was made, it could have been 5 years ago or 10 years ago. 4. The vast majority of wealthy and ultra wealthy invest in muni's, due to the triple tax free status of the potential cash flow. It seems his FA had him overleveraged, but we don't know why. Maybe Tito requested certain annual cash figure requirements. There is much more than meets the eye here, so its not as easy to just say he is Bankrupt other than sensational news stories that sell papers and lazy journalism. At least someone that knows what is up. Today newspaper are providing more detail. Mr Ramos answer and explain a lil bit. The investment were solid when he started. However, there are some tricky details to the story. The way Ramos moved around from UBS all the way to Popular Securities is not a good look.

12y ago

Dr_Rumack

Puerto Rico is a good place to invest with their 4 percent tax rate. I dont know why PR is not a success like Singapore. instead they are riddled in debt A lot of differences between Puerto Rico and Singapore. Low tax rate isn't going to make up the difference.

12y ago

ringer

Trinidad/Mayorga II. Book it.

12y ago

racer59

1. Unlike Detroit and other United States municipalities, Puerto Rico cannot file for federal bankruptcy protection, making the prospect of a restructuring by the commonwealth potentially even more uncertain to creditors because there is no clear template. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/puerto-rico-hires-bankruptcy-lawyers/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 2. The article stated that he made $90 millions through his career and the investment was $63 million 1. I am aware. To my point, this dosent correlate to him filing for bankruptcy. 2. I may have misread that. I apologize.

12y ago

kadyos

it's his money, and his responsibility to at least look at his investments quarterly. these guys get a lot of money and they think "i don't ahve to do anything." when you get your hands on some dough is when the real work starts. you have to be responsible for your own money. It should be monthly with a group of say 8 to 10 people of the wisest people of your clan who will get honorarium after every meeting. This is very sad and Tito learned it the hard way. He'll get by but it'll be a different lifestyle from now on.

12y ago

oc9979

I happen to be a bond trader. So here are the facts. 1. He cant be bankrupt, because PR has not defaulted, nor have they missed any interest payments as of yet. 2. The actual article states he made that much during his career, not that this was his total investment. 3. His FA invested his money in PR Bond MUTUAL FUNDS not individual bonds. Funds have to unload bonds when they fall below investment grade. Which only recently happened to PR. We dont know when the investment was made, it could have been 5 years ago or 10 years ago. 4. The vast majority of wealthy and ultra wealthy invest in muni's, due to the triple tax free status of the potential cash flow. It seems his FA had him overleveraged, but we don't know why. Maybe Tito requested certain annual cash figure requirements. There is much more than meets the eye here, so its not as easy to just say he is Bankrupt other than sensational news stories that sell papers and lazy journalism. 1. Unlike Detroit and other United States municipalities, Puerto Rico cannot file for federal bankruptcy protection, making the prospect of a restructuring by the commonwealth potentially even more uncertain to creditors because there is no clear template. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/puerto-rico-hires-bankruptcy-lawyers/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 2. The article stated that he made $90 millions through his career and the investment was $63 million

12y ago

Canelo_Phresh

Delahoya v Trinidad II : In Puerto Rico : In Delahoyas Backyard.

12y ago

oc9979

I read somewhere that Puerto Rico was worse than Detroit in term of being bankrupt Only a idiot would buy those bonds. Trinidad should've got a real investor who wasn't a complete moron Very true and from what I read. Puerto Rico can not file for bankruptcy. Each city has to file for it

12y ago

racer59

Puerto Rico is a good place to invest with their 4 percent tax rate. I dont know why PR is not a success like Singapore. instead they are riddled in debt It's called pensions.

12y ago

George_Orwell

Puerto Rico is a good place to invest with their 4 percent tax rate. I dont know why PR is not a success like Singapore. instead they are riddled in debt

12y ago

racer59

Even if they go down in value you have to think the long run. It doesn't hurt either that with the interest earned it continues to buy into itself That is partially my point. As to your second comment, that defeats the purpose of investing in muni funds. Since, someone like Tito invests capital to create cash flow because he dosent have steady employment. Reinvesting dividends in a muni fund is counter intuitive, since this is not a capital appreciation investment, muni funds are used for income portions of a portfolio...

12y ago