TV Star Retired From Acting After Going More than $10 Million in Debt
Somerhalder said bad business deals and fraud put him and Nikki Reed in more than $10 million of debt, which they later worked to repay.
- Former 'Vampire Diaries' and 'Lost' star Ian Somerhalder faced eight-figure debt following a failed business venture, with improper guarantees for a clean energy company leaving him in a significant financial hole.
- After making personal guarantees to a bank for an unnamed energy company, Somerhalder stated that fraud caused the situation to come "crashing down," creating a debt difficult to resolve.
- Somerhalder credits his wife, Nikki Reed, for negotiating them out of the deal; the couple "sold houses, paintings, cars, watches, everything" to regain financial stability after what he described as a "true nightmare."
- Since recovering, Somerhalder has launched multiple businesses, including Brothers Bond Bourbon with former co-star Paul Wesley and The Absorption Company, a nutritional supplements brand he cofounded with Reed.
- Reflecting on the experience, Somerhalder believes he "should have been retiring off of one of the biggest TV shows in the world" instead of starting failing companies, advising others to "make it fun.
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Ian Somerhalder revealed why he suddenly retired from acting, despite the huge success of the series - He fell victim to fraud along with his wife and found himself in incredible debt
Despite having achieved global recognition for its iconic roles in productions linked to the vampire universe, the couple faced an adverse economic scenario that remained out of the media spotlight for years.
TV star retired from acting after going more than $10 million in debt
Ian Somerhalder revealed in a new interview with E! News that he was forced to claw himself and his family out of debt in the eight-figure range (an exact number was not given but it was $10 million or more) after he retired from acting.
The A.V. Club
PasteIan Somerhalder says he was in eight-figure debt after retiring from acting
Retirement has not been relaxing for Ian Somerhalder. After The Vampire Diaries ran out of pages in the late 2010s, Somerhalder retired from acting to make whiskey and vitamins, business initiatives he started with his wife, Twilight star Nikki Reed. But thanks to a couple of bad deals and some fraud, the two pretend vampires fell into an eight-figure debt after a deal over an energy company he founded went south, the actor-turned-entrepreneur t…
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