If you have ever imagined what it would be like to be filthy rich, that fantasy most likely included frittering away lots of money on anything that catches your fancy. However, in reality, the only people who can live like that are the most wealthy people on the planet. After all, even when you have lots of cash, it can easily dry up if you constantly spend without thinking about the consequences.
Of course, just because people with a lot of money should know that it can all disappear doesn’t mean that they all act responsibly. In fact, many celebrities who amassed impressive fortunes have gone broke because of their irresponsible ways. For example, even though Nicolas Cage was one of the highest-paid actors in the world at one point, he managed to have some very serious financial problems.
In some ways the ultimate movie star, Nicolas Cage headlined a lot of highly successful movies and lived a life of extreme excess at one time. In fact, the guy made so many financial mistakes that it would be impossible to list them all here. Instead, this article will outline some of his most egregious financial errors, ignoring his several divorces which most have been extremely costly.
Major Movie Star
Since Nicolas Cage first rose to fame, he has appeared in a long list of movies that have passed the test of time. For example, during the early years of his career, Cage starred in many beloved films like Peggy Sue Got Married, Raising Arizona, and Moonstruck.
Able to become an even bigger star during the ‘90s, over those years Nicolas Cage starred in movies like Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off. While Cage’s career has been spotty since the 2000s began, his more recent highlights including films like the National Treasure franchise, Kick-Ass, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Regular Celebrity Purchases To The Extreme
Of all the things that celebrities buy for themselves, the two most common things that stars plunk down a huge amount of money on are their cars and houses. Of course, that makes a lot of sense as living in a huge house and driving expensive cars are two of the most obvious ways someone can flaunt their fortune. Of course, Nicolas Cage isn’t your typical star so he took things to extremes when it came to the cars and homes he bought.
As a movie star, Nicolas Cage has played a lot of different characters, some of which he has things in common with and others he likely doesn’t. When it comes to Cage’s Gone in 60 Seconds character, Cage clearly has a lot in common with him as he has spent a fortune on wildly expensive cars. Cage also seems to love the same kind of vehicles considering he owns the car his character is obsessed with, the 1971 Ford Mustang they refer to as Eleanor in the movie.
Known to have bought at least 20 expensive cars over the years, Cage is known to have owned many of the rarest vehicles around. For example, at one time or another Cage has owned a Rolls-Royce Ghost, a 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Ferrari Enzo, and a 2001 Lamborghini Diablo. Also a huge fan of classic cars, Cage has bought a 1938 Bugatti T57 C Atalante Coupe, a 1963 Aston Martin D85, a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spyder, and a 1954 Bugatti 101.
Despite the fortune that Nicolas Cage has spent on cars, he went even further when it came to the homes he bought. After all, it is a lot easier to spend an obscene amount of money on residences and Nicolas Cage owned 15 of them at one time. Amazingly enough, at the height of Cage’s spending, he bought two European castles for $10 million and $2.3 million. Far from through, he also bought a $25 million waterfront residence in Newport Beach, a $15.7 million Rhode Island estate, and a $8.5 million Las Vegas home.
Unfortunately for him, according to a $36.7 million lawsuit Nicolas Cage filed, he also fell into another common celebrity pitfall, trusting an unscrupulous accountant.
Buying Unusual Items
If there is one thing that has always been clear about Nicolas Cage it is this, he is a unique fellow. For proof of this, look no further than the many montages of Cage’s outrageous acting choices. On top of that, all you have to do is check out some of the weird things Cage has purchased over the years. For example, at one point Cage spent $260,000 on a Tyrannosaurus bataar dinosaur skull. Worse yet, it later became clear that the skull had been stolen and Cage was forced to return the dinosaur artifact to its original owner.
As most Nicolas Cage fans know, he is a huge Superman fan which explains why he bought an issue of the first comic the character ever appeared in for $150,000. In the past, Nicolas Cage once sprung for a nine-foot-tall burial tomb, he spent $3 million on a deserted island, and he had a pet octopus that cost $150,000. Finally, it can easily be argued that Cage’s weirdest purchase is the shrunken pygmy heads he spent money on.