Sure, the guy has come a long way, but how far does he still have to go?
There have been fighters who?ve gone bankrupt and others who have gone dead broke, but a lot of them at least knew where their money was at one time, because of course they were busy spending it all.
Well, for someone who ranks, according to some metrics, as one of the five biggest earners among the world?s athletes, Manny Pacquiao has been at a curiously primitive level when it comes to his awareness of his own finances.
At least that is the way it appears from some of the statements that have been made, by Pacquiao?s people, and those from an accounting firm he hired called Vision Quest.
We have read about IRS problems, with terms like ?seizure and levies? used. We?ve read that prior to 2010, Pacquiao never had a full-time accountant. Only recently ? and I mean VERY recently ? were people brought aboard who had any idea how to go about auditing pay-per-view numbers, which would seem to be critical if he?s dealing with eight-figure purses and back-end percentages. Vision Quest claimed to have been ?stymied? when trying to find out what the real figures generated by the pay-per-view telecasts were. In the way of careful financial review, things were certainly lacking.
In press statements that were released after their firm was dismissed, Vision Quest maintained that Pacquiao didn?t have ?important documents in their possession like bout contracts, bank statements, bout proceeds distributions, endorsement contracts, promoter contracts, co-promoter contracts, property ownership records? and more. There is a company, MP Promotions (owned by Pacquiao), which is supposedly in some kind of partnership with Top Rank, yet doesn?t seem to have the documentation it needs to do business. Or else, why would Vision Quest have been hired in the first place?
Among the allegations the Vision Quest form is making in a pending lawsuit is that Michael Koncz, a business advisor for Pacquiao, is also on the payroll of Top Rank, which if true, would be an absolute no-no. And if true, was Pacquiao aware of it.
And then there is what I know about the earlier part of Pacquiao?s career, in which he was financially exploited, to say the least.
It appears that this guy just has never been well-represented, in terms of those who might be considered to have some kind of fiduciary responsibility (and of course, I use the term rather loosely) toward him.
First of all, anyone and everyone seemed to have some kind of management deal with him.
