'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Johnny Depp is currently facing Fairfax County court for his ongoing defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard. The actor sued Heard for $50 million for libel after she called herself a survivor of domestic abuse in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed.
Depp’s team claimed that the article harmed the actor’s reputation and negatively affected his career despite not naming him directly. However, Heard countersued for $100 million and claimed that Depp assaulted her on multiple occasions.
While the million-dollar lawsuit is keeping Depp’s finances at stake, the actor has already lost a significant portion of his multi-million dollar fortune in the past. Early reports suggested that Johnny Depp once had a $900 million net worth.
However, those claims were later debunked as it was revealed that he lost nearly $650 million from his earnings owing to his indulgent lifestyle, addiction issues, and mounting legal expenses.
Exploring the rise and fall of Johnny Depp’s fortune
Johnny Depp decided to step into the entertainment industry after dropping out of high school with the aim of becoming a rock musician. He moved to Los Angeles and switched to acting after the breakup of his band The Kids.
The actor appeared in the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street and soon earned his breakthrough role in the Fox TV series 21 Jump Street. He reportedly started earning $45000 per episode for the show.
Johnny Depp bagged the lead role in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands in 1990, which marked the beginning of his remarkable work in films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Sleepy Hollow, Dead Man, Donnie Brasco, and Ed Wood, among others.
The 58-year-old witnessed the biggest commercial success of his career when he was cast as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The film series became a worldwide phenomenon and Depp reportedly earned $300 million from the five installments.
In addition to the success of the franchise, Depp continued to appear in other blockbusters like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Alice in Wonderland.
According to the Telegraph, Depp earned more than 50 million pounds for his role as The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. With a lifetime of iconic roles and films grossing over US$10 billion worldwide, Johnny Depp was listed as the world's highest-paid actor by the Guinness World Records in 2012.
Unfortunately, his multi-million dollar fortune suffered a major blow after he lost $650 million between 2003 and 2016. As per The Hollywood Reporter, authorities first informed Johnny Depp about his financial troubles in 2012.
Depp’s attorney Jake Bloom and accountant Joel Mandel reportedly sat down with the actor at his Hollywood Hills mansion and told him that his $2 million per month lifestyle was nearly impossible to maintain. They also claimed that he did not have enough liquid assets to cover his expenses.
In 2016, Depp suddenly fired his manager Tracey Jacobs and accountant Mandel. He then filed a $25 million lawsuit on the latter’s firm called The Management Group (TMG) on grounds on “fraud and mismanagement.”
However, TMG countersued and told the court that Depp was “responsible for his own financial waste.” The company also reiterated that the actor’s lavish lifestyle was unsustainable. They stated,
“Depp lived an ultra-extravagant lifestyle that often knowingly cost Depp in excess of $2 million a month to maintain, which he simply could not afford.”
The countersuit also alleged that Depp spent $75 million on 14 different residences, owned more than 200 pieces of fine art, and bought expensive memorabilia kept in 12 different storage facilities. It was also said that Depp had a $30000 monthly wine budget.
He also allegedly invested $18 million to buy a 156-foot yacht, $4 million on an unsuccessful record label, $200,000 a month on private planes, and $150,000 a month on security.
A few years later, the actor told the Rolling Stone that TMG’s claim about his wine budget was “insulting” as it was “far more.” Johnny Depp reportedly settled the lawsuit with TMG for an “undisclosed sum” in 2018.
Other issues that added to Depp’s financial troubles ranged from maintaining a full-time 40 person staff to extravagant spending like investing $5 million to blast late friend Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes out of a cannon. Speaking about his expenses, Johnny Depp once told the Wall Street Journal,
“It’s my money. If I want to buy 15,000 cotton balls a day, it’s my thing.”
Depp’s financial woes doubled after he became embroiled in a legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. Their divorce was finalized after the actor paid a US$7 million settlement to Heard in 2017.
In 2018, Depp sued News Group Newspapers and journalist Dan Wootton for calling him a “wife beater” in an article in The Sun. However, he lost the lawsuit after London Judge Andrew Nicol declared that the publication did not lie and Depp was in fact, abusive towards Heard during their relationship. Judge Nicol stated,
“I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard. The claimant has failed in his action for libel.”
At the time, Depp's lawyers described the ruling as “perverse as it is bewildering” and continued to speak for their client’s innocence. Meanwhile, the actor opened up to Rolling Stone about his $650 million loss of fortune during an interview. He shared,
"It was put to me this way, because I had no idea about money or amounts of money. Since Pirates [of the Caribbean] II and III, I had – and this is ludicrous to have to state, it's quite embarrassing – apparently I had made $650m, and when I sacked them, for the right reasons.”
The Oscar Award winner also shared that he not only lost $650 million, but ended up in a “$100m hole” because his team did not pay the government any taxes for 17 years. Depp mentioned that his situation has left him “on the brink of bankruptcy.”
What is Johnny Depp’s current net worth?
Johnny Depp has managed to maintain considerable net worth despite his lifetime of financial losses. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he currently has an approximate net worth of $150 million.
Although the sum is a far cry from his previous fortune, Depp’s salary still reportedly ranges around $20 million per film. In 2020, the actor reportedly received $16 million for filming a single Fantastic Beasts scene despite being dropped from the franchise.
In addition to his financial woes, Depp also faced a setback in his career due to his legal battle with Amber Heard and her domestic violence allegations. As the former pair continue to fight their defamation battle, it remains to be seen if Johnny Depp will make a comeback in the days to come.
