Professional hockey player Jack Johnson will turn over most of what he earns over the next five years, including much of the remainder of a $30.5 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as part of a plan that would pay off his creditors and allow the NHL star to emerge from bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The chapter 11 plan, approved last week by a bankruptcy judge in Columbus, Ohio, includes settlements with creditors holding the majority of debt, more than $14 million. It comes more than two years after Johnson filed for bankruptcy protection. Johnson, a smooth-skating Michigan-raised defenseman who was the No. 3 pick in the 2005 National Hockey League draft, pinned his money problems on his parents who, until 2014, had control over his financial affairs. His lawyers say in court papers that his parents, Jack Sr. and Tina Johnson, kept him in the dark about a number of high-risk loans they took out in their son’s name. Johnson’s lawyers say his parents have admitted in court filings that they withheld financial information from their son. The Johnsons sought to “monetize” their son’s contract by taking out loans that borrowed against his future earnings in the NHL, according to a description of the plan filed by Johnson’s lawyers with the bankruptcy court. Read more. (Subscription required.)
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