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LIMP BIZKIT's Wes Borland Was Completely Broke When Quitting the Band in 2001

"9/11 happened and I lost well over a million dollars in the stock market."

limp bizkit wes borland

Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland quit the band in 2001, only to rejoin once again in 2004. Borland revealed in a recent interview with Let There Be TalkĀ that he lost all his money in the stock shortly after quitting the band, and that all his then ex-bandmates experienced something very similar.

Interviewer: At one point, was it just massive money?

ā€œYeah, like a ridiculous amount of money. And all of my money got really aggressively invested in the stock market ā€“ high-risk stocks. Because at that time, this is one of the things, this is one of the ideas of arrested development ā€“ because I was just like this you said, when youā€™re in it, you think itā€™s never going to end!

ā€œBecause people are just stroking your ego going, ā€˜You guys are the best thing ever, this ride is never going to end,ā€™ and positive, positive, positive. The buzz is on, and then youā€™re like defeating boy bands on TRL ā€“ we felt like gods! And so I was just like, ā€˜Yeah, man, invest it all! If we lose it all, who cares? Thereā€™s more where that came from!ā€™

Interviewer: And did you lose it?

ā€œAll of it. 9/11 happened and I lost well over a million dollars in the stock market. Just gone ā€“ poof! And whatā€™s crazy is ā€“ I was just like, ā€˜Whatever.ā€™ But I had nothing! That was all my money!

ā€œAnd I was like, ā€˜Donā€™t worry, weā€™ll make more money.ā€™ And then I was like, ā€˜Actually, I donā€™t want to.ā€™ And I quit.ā€

Interviewer: Oh my god! So you quit and you had no money at that time?

ā€œYeah, and I look back on this itā€™s just like, ā€˜God, youā€™re an idiot.ā€™ And everyone listening to this will think Iā€™m an idiot too, but this is how hard-headed I am and was at the time.

ā€œThey were like, ā€˜All the moneyā€™s gone, you lost all your money in the stock market. We have touring set up next year and youā€™re gonna net 5 million next year.ā€™ And I said, ā€˜You can shove it up your fucking ass. Iā€™d rather be poor.ā€™

ā€œAnd I left. I was in the management office and they were just like, ā€˜Okay.ā€™ Yeah, Iā€™m like the most hard-headed idiot.ā€

Interviewer: Now, when you look at it the other dudes, were they broke too?

ā€œYeah, because their money was kind of invested in the same way.ā€

Borland also explained why he quit Limp Bizkit in 2001, saying he just couldn't take being in the band anymore.

ā€œI think [I quit] two times, but mainly it was the one where I was just like, ā€˜I canā€™t take this anymore,ā€™ you know, the money, everything ā€“ I canā€™t. I canā€™t be subjected to this kind of insanity anymore. Because I think what happens is ā€“ I became a part of creating a public persona that wasnā€™t reallyā€¦ I just play a small part in that because itā€™s also everyone elseā€™s idea, or presentation, or the way that they are viewing whatever is going on.

ā€œAnd that was a weird time where people were like ā€“ whenever a band gets big enough, there become these really strange folks that ā€“ maybe theyā€™re not strange, maybe theyā€™re just totally normal, but they write fan fiction. And I was getting all these like ā€“ people sending me stories theyā€™d written about the band. It was just bizarre, just people get way in there, way into it, and just get in a whole dream world of thinking about people.

ā€œAnd I was just like, ā€˜This is gross, I donā€™t wanna do this. I donā€™t wanna be in magazines, I donā€™t wanna beā€¦ā€™ Because at first, youā€™re like, if you havenā€™t ever been in a magazine or been famous, it seems like itā€™s going to be awesome! And itā€™s just weird. Youā€™re like, ā€˜Yay, Iā€™m on the cover!ā€™ And then youā€™re like, ā€˜I donā€™t want to be, I donā€™t want to do this anymore. I donā€™t want to be tricked into the photographer telling me to make a certain pose and we wonā€™t use that one, we just have to get it.ā€™ā€

Check out more highlights of the interview on Ultimate Guitar.

[via MetalSucks]

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