All posts containing the tag: "FinancialRuin"
Posted Nov 17th 2009 1:18PM by TMZ Staff
The guy Nic Cage blamed for his financial ruin now claims by the time Nic hired him in 2001, "Coppola [Cage] had already squandered tens of millions of dollars... and owed millions of dollars in... income taxes, with no funds available to pay the tax debt."
In his countersuit obtained by TMZ, Samuel Levin, CPA, says when he was hired he warned Nic he needed to earn $30 mil a year just to maintain his lavish lifestyle.
As for the alleged lavish lifestyle ... Levin cites the year 2007, in which Cage bought 3 homes totaling more than $33 mil, 22 cars (including 9 Rolls Royces), 12 pieces of expensive jewelry and 47 pieces of art.
And Levin says, Cage spent most of his free time "shopping for high-ticket purchases," including 15 homes, a Gulfstream jet, and a flotilla of yachts.
And there's this: Cage "also spent huge sums taking his sizable entourage on costly vacations and threw enormous, Gatsby-scale parties at his residences."
The countersuit goes on: "The pinnacle of [Cage's] spending spree came with his Quixotic acquisitions of Midford Castle in England and Schloss Neidstein Castle in Bavaria." Levin claims he warned Cage the castles were "decrepit" and needed a king's ransom just to make them habitable.
Levin claims Cage owes him $128,872.98 in unpaid business management services.
UPDATE Nic's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "Levin's cross complaint is absurd. He was paid more than $1.3 million this last year-and-a-half. It's ironic he's making his claim for fees when he caused Nic to be in these financial problems while he was paid millions of dollars over the past several years to act as Nic's financial advisor."
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Exclusives
Tags: 20 million, 20Million, broke, business manager, BusinessManager, coppola, financial ruin, FinancialRuin, nic cage, NicCage, nicholas cage, NicholasCage, samuel levin, SamuelLevin
Posted Oct 16th 2009 11:42AM by TMZ Staff
Nicolas Cage, who has made untold millions over a long career, says his business manager has sent him "down a path toward financial ruin" and he wants $20 million minimum to repair the damage.
TMZ has obtained a copy of a lawsuit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, in which Cage claims Samuel Levin -- his business manager -- was so reckless and incompetent with his money, that he has now been forced to sell off major assets and investments and is faced with gigantic tax liabilities.
In the lawsuit, Cage -- who according to Forbes earned $40 mil between June 2008 and June 2009 -- claims over a period of seven years, "Levin placed Cage in numerous highly speculative and risky real estate investments, resulting in Cage suffering catastrophic losses."
Cage also claims Levin failed to pay taxes when they were due. As TMZ first reported, the IRS has filed liens against the actor for more than $6 million in back taxes.
Cage claims it was only this year, after firing Levin, he learned "the gravity of his financial condition."
In the lawsuit, filed by legal pit bull Marty Singer, Cage claims Levin never advised him of his financial bottom line and is guilty of "over-extending [Cage's] line of credit with banks and financial institutions." The suit claims Levin concealed Cage's "true financial condition prior to investments and assets being acquired by [Cage]." Translation -- Levin never told Cage to put the brakes on buying stuff because he was running out of money.
And, for bad measure, Cage claims he paid Levin millions and was "grossly" overcharged for his services.
Cage is suing for a minimum of $20 million.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Exclusives
Tags: busienss manager, BusienssManager, celebrity, celebrity gossip, CelebrityGossip, debt, financial ruin, FinancialRuin, gossip, lawsuit, nic, nic cage, NicCage, nicholas cage, NicholasCage, sam levin, SamLevin, samuel levin, SamuelLevin, taxes
