Joe Francis’ Girls Gone Wild Company Files for Bankruptcy. Compares itself to General Motors.

I remember when Joe Francis, the owner and founder of the GGW franchise was on top of the world.  This man’s money had money.  It actually still does…

Girls Gone Wild started back in 1997 when Joe decided to use cheesy infomercials to market videos of college girls on spring break doing wild things.  He balanced the line between P0rn and (Jerry) Spring.  In just two years, GGW had $20 million in sales.  What people didn’t’ realize was that Francis has actually built a solid empire; one that continued to produce videos for years to come eventually releasing over 80 titles.

In 2005, Francis donated 100% of its Mardi Gras series of DVDs to Hurricane Katrina victims.

NOW THE PARTY IS OVER.

The GGW franchise has filed Chapter 11.  The company compares itself to General Motors saying that it has to restructure and settle some frivolous legal matters so it can continue profitably.

In the company’s actual legal filings they compare themselves to American Airlines and General Motors.  The papers state:

“Girls Gone Wild remains strong as a company and strong financially. The only reason Girls Gone Wild has elected to file for this reorganization is to restructure its frivolous and burdensome legal affairs. This Chapter 11 filing will not affect any of Girls Gone Wild’s domestic or international operations. Just like American Airlines and General Motors, it will be business as usual for Girls Gone Wild.”

Joe personally still has plenty of loot.  His estimated net worth is $50 million.  In 2009 he was caught filing false tax returns and had to pay almost a quarter million dollars in restitution.

Like General Motors maybe the restructured Girls Gone Wild will come out with some new models.