According to reports he owed a substantial amount of money in unpaid tax and penalties and as a result some of his property, including his 2007 WSOP Main Event bracelet, was being sold to help cover his debts.
At the time no further information was available but after talking with Fifth Street Radio, Jerry has shed some more on his situation.
According to the transcript, Jerry’s biggest mistake was that he didn’t pay his taxes before he made several large donations to various charities such as Make-A-Wish Foundation and Ronald McDonald House.
Furthermore, he cites bad advice and the collapse of the global economy for his financial faux pas: “some of the people that I hired or got on my team were advising me in the wrong way” and there was also a financial crisis with the bank of America where my money was stored, which meant “all my funds were locked away, were frozen if you will, and so I wasn’t able to pay my federal taxes on time.”
When asked if he’s still solvent, Jerry said he the restaurant he started is “doing fairly well” and that the IRS “seem like they want to cooperate”.
Jerry Yang won $8,250,000 in 2007 but went on to only make just over $150,000 in the next five years at the poker table.