Johnny Depp: Portrait of an Artist With a ‘Missing’ Fortune

Actor reportedly lost nearly $650 million; now suing his former managers.

May 11, 2017 10:05 am
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp attends the 'Black Mass' Virgin Atlantic Gala screening during the BFI London Film Festival, at Odeon Leicester Square on October 11, 2015 in London, England. (John Phillips/Getty Images for BFI)

Despite some recent bouts of bad press and a few major box office failures, Johnny Depp is still one of the elite A-list actors. He’s the face of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which must translate into a fair amount of personal treasure. But as The Hollywood Reporter writes, of late, that hasn’t quite been the case.

In 2012, Depp was informed by his business advisors that he’d lost nearly $650 million—and that he was in danger of losing everything else that went along with his Hollywood/rock star lifestyle. He would have to resort to a “fire sale,” which included selling off his prized $18 million yacht.

Shortly after, a series of lawsuits and counter-suits between Depp and his partners ensued, with Depp alleging in a $25 million suit this past January that his talent agency had mismanaged his funds and committed fraud. The agency, TMG, countersued, “painting a portrait of an out-of-control movie star, reeling from a nasty split from [his former wife Amber] Heard and used to spending freely, including $30,000 a month on wine,” per THR.

This, of course, is all happening on the eve of his latest movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, coming out this month, which might just be the thing to reverse his personal and financial troubles.

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