Nicolas Cage's Financial Problems Linked to His Lavish Spending Habits?

By PopEater Staff Posted Nov 5th 2009 11:50AM

Nicolas Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit against his former business manager Samuel J. Levin alleging that he was reckless with his money, including doing such things as not paying taxes, which is the reason Cage now owes more than $6 million in unpaid taxes. While Cage blames mismanagement for his financial ruin, The Daily Beast is showing another perspective, revealing the actor purchased more than a dozen houses, two islands, dinosaur skulls, shrunken heads and at least 50 cars. "[He] spent money like it was water," a source said. Let's break down the actor's alleged spending habits. >>

Property - Cage has bought houses in places like Newport Beach, Venice Beach, Malibu, San Francisco, Middletown, Rhode Island, New York, and Las Vegas. He even owned a castle near Bath, England, an 11th-century estate in Etzelwang, Germany and two Bahamian islands.

Cage's primary residence was the 1940 Bel Air mansion with eight bedrooms, a theater, wine cellar, and a library. But he put it on the market a few years back for more than $30 million. A source close to the sale says it went for less than $15 million. Cage's two mansions in New Orleans have been foreclosed upon and will be auctioned off later this month. The first, a 13,000-square-foot, six-bedroom house in the Garden District, was originally put on the market for a reported $3.45 million. The second, on Royal Street in the French Quarter, went on sale for $3.5 million.

Pictured above is Cage's 1940 Bel Air mansion.

Get The Full Story at The Daily Beast

Bel Air Christmas party - According to The Daily Beast, "The Christmas party in the tent at Nicolas Cage's mansion was a major to-do. The pool was covered up. Blocks of ice were brought in and carved into a buffet table, from which an extravagant array of shellfish was served. A production crew blew fake snow. There were enormous nutcracker men, 8- to 10-feet-tall, out by the gate in front of the house. Lighting specialists came by and illuminated Cage's favorite cars, which sat on display in the driveway. Guests at the December 2003 event included Hugh Hefner and Jay Leno, who later called it the greatest Christmas party he'd ever been to."

Charity - In 2005, Cage gave $1 million to the Red Cross to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, Amnesty International announced that Cage was giving the organization $2 million.

Cars - In June 2004, he owned 18 motorcycles and 30 cars including "Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Bentleys," The Daily Beast reports. At another point, two sources say, Cage's car total was around 50. He also spent nearly half a million dollars on a Lamborghini Miura SVJ that had been owned by the shah of Iran. Oh yeah, and he also own at least two yachts and a Gulfstream jet, which goes for anywhere between $45 million and $70 million.

One source said Cage spent over six figures on a Bentley, then sent it to be fitted with custom cabinetry in the back. A TV, stereo, and bar were all put in. The renovation costs totaled more than $50,000, but when it was done, the man for whom the car was spruced up couldn't even fit inside it. "It was a bastard," a person who worked with Cage at the time said. "You couldn't sit in the back unless you're 5'8. He's six-feet. Ultimately, he got rid of it."

Comic Books - Cage was an avid comic-book collector and even owned the most prized, Action Comics #1 (which contained the first appearance of Superman) and Detective Comics 38. In 2002, he sold them all for a reported $1.6 million.

Shrunken heads & skulls - Three people who visited his house reported seeing shrunken heads. Cage also purchased a dinosaur skull in 2007 for $276,000 in a heated auction with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Animals - In addition to a handful of purebred dogs, Cage also had rare birds, lizards and snakes including two albino King Cobras.

Fine dining - One crew member from Cage's 1993 film 'It Could Happen to You' told The Daily Beast that a person was dispatched to caviar hotspot Petrossian in New York to get takeout for the star and a few people on the set. "It was something like $2,000 for a snack," the source said.

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Nicolas Cage Photos

Nicolas Cage at the "Bad Lieutenant: Ports of Call New Orleans" press conference on November 4, 2009 in Beverly Hills. More photos >>

Vera Anderson/WireImage.com

WireImage.com

Nicolas Cage Snapshots

NO TABLOIDS, NO US SALES FOR 90 DAYS, Nicolas Cage at the "Bad Lieutenant: Ports of Call New Orleans" press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel on November 4, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California. "Bad Lieutenant: Ports of Call New Orleans" Press Conference Four Seasons Hotel Beverly Hills, CA United States November 5, 2009 Photo by Vera Anderson/WireImage.com To license this image (17030084), contact WireImage.com

Vera Anderson/WireImage.com

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines and Robert Duvall as Otto Halliwell

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines, Christopher Eccleston as Raymond Calitri and Delroy Lindo as Det. Roland Castlebeck

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines and Angelina Jolie as Sara 'Sway' Wayland

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines, Giovanni Ribisi as Kip Raines, Angelina Jolie as Sara 'Sway' Wayland, Scott Caan as Tumbler and Vinnie Jones as The Sphinx

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines, Robert Duvall as Otto Halliwell, Giovanni Ribisi as Kip Raines and Chi McBride as Donny Astricky

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines, Robert Duvall as Otto Halliwell, Scott Caan as Tumbler, Vinnie Jones as The Sphinx and Chi McBride as Donny Astricky

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines and Angelina Jolie as Sara 'Sway' Wayland

Touchstone Pictures

GONE IN 60 SECONDS Nicolas Cage as Memphis Raines, Delroy Lindo as Det. Roland Castlebeck and Timothy Olyphant as Detective Drycoff

Touchstone Pictures

Tags: Nicolas Cage, NicolasCage

Comments

(399)

Saturday 07 November

By memyselfni

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How funny... I was thinking the very same thing. Sorry all you lovers but, I NEVER understood what people saw in this man... First time I saw him was in Valley Girl... and even then, to me at least, he looked like something was...um.. missing.. So not impressed with his acting abilities either. So many no-names out there, could probably do a better, more authentic job at building a character, than this joker... Sorry but.. just don't like him... don't know him.. and not judging him but, he needs to pay up, just like you and I do every year. Stop the blame game.. Stop wasting $20 million dollars you DON'T have, on frivolous lawsuits... and just cowboy-up, and pay your damn taxes. Wait.. what's that? Oh... Mr Cage, you say you're broke.. and.. what else.. Oh, you don't have money to buy food? Hmmm.. well, eat your damn cars! I'm sure those taste pretty good. They'd damn well better! You paid enough for em!

By wild irish rose

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IISA, sure he can do anything he wants with his money, but first he needs to pay his taxes, just like us little people are supposed to do. All those expensive things he has should be sold until he can pay the govt off, and that's it! Just because he's a big (undeserved) star doesn't mean the laws don't apply to him. He's a jerk.

Thursday 05 November

By Claire

Who needs a big house like that anyway? I don't get it. Doesn't he have several mansions? He must employee 20 servants just to keep them up. He is not immune to bankruptcy. He can't blame anyone but himself for his compulsive spending habits.

By martha

Well at least he's keeping quite a few people employed, and I'll bet he's generous with them. Just doesn't realize how much he has or how much he's spent.

By sam

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

we humans are all alike, poor or rich, we blow money, no mater, but there is some freaks that save thiers.

By But Why Not?

Tsk, tsk, all you naysayers. Think of how much he's contributed to the economy by buying all that stuff and consuming all those services! Why, he's practically a one-man stimulus package! (Yeah, I know; truth is, I'm jealous as hell, too.)

Friday 06 November

By GGSTROUD

IM LIKE YOU I AGREE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT IM NOT RICH BUT ITS HIS DAM MONEY AND HE CAN DO WHAT HE LIKES ALSO IM JEALOUS TOO LOL!

By Freya

One man stimulus package? I like that!

By mintrubble71

For those concerned about his children: I'm sure the Cobra's he keeps have been "de-fanged" (or had their venom sacks removed). I like how he tried to blame all this on his financial manager too. Why take responsibility for yourself when you can pass the buck? For his sake I hope he's a better actor in court than on the big screen.

By the Chief

This would not be the first time somebody with REAL money trusted somebody with it and got ripped off. A lot of very REAL people trusted "uncle Bernie", not out of greed, but out of TRUST - and lost everything. For that matter, millions of people trusted Congress (the "trustees" of the so-called Social Security Ponzi program) and will loose everything that was taken from him.

I like his movies. The only problem I have with his movies is that I don't see his characters, I see him. Since I his work, no biggie.

I for one will give him the benefit of the doubt and consider his business manager the thief. I mean, DUDE! Who knows more about stealin money than an accountant! Your average actor can only count one-two-three-LOTS!

By Mike

That's one wierd dude...

By wilma fingerdo

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

big deal, i spend all my money on cocaine, vacations and women and still have time to pee and have money up the ying yang

Monday 09 November

By Gunsmoke

don't get me wrong Cage is a Good Guy, he'll take his shirt of his back for you, he should blame himself for trusting his crooked advisors while being distracted by his lavish lifestyle, if you ever get to make a fortune don't forget it can be gone in a heartbeat - people will look at you like a dollar sign everywhere you go.

By eve

yeah I agree. no one on earth needs that many houses and cars but he's always been one of my favorite actors and he's a good one so I don't know ....hopefully he can pull himself out of this and learn from his mistakes

By Shelly

He did donate to charity. I think he just needs to stop spending all the time. He should have pick a better financial advisor like Bernie Madoff then he'd be just fine, Living in a van down by the river. I actually like him so I'm just kidding and I hope the best for him..

By rhunt8888

I guess he could have given all his money to Bernie Madoff and puff, it would all be gone. At least he got some enjoyment out of his money.

By Marty

Celebrities... they're just like us!

He's a pretty cool guy. He's got class and I say let him spend his money the way he wants to. He'll learn a lesson from this and more power to him. He aint hurtin, he'll be back big time and let the party start all over again.

By wisdom

He has a part time job at walmart in california,he works in the Tv department

By sherri

We're talking about a man that named his child after Superman!!!

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