Where did all of Johnny Depp’s money go? From Ford Mustangs for Amber Heard to his lavish lifestyle and those lawsuits, the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s net worth was once US$650 million …

Jun 1 , 2022

Whoopsie daisy! Where did Johnny Depp’s millions go, and is he solely to blame? Photo: AFP

Depp made US$300 million from his appearances in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and US$68 million just for playing Tim Burton’s Mad Hatter

The Fantastic Beasts actor’s lawsuits against Heard, The Sun and TMG exposed insane spending on luxury yachts, Leonor Fini paintings and ‘far more’ than US$30,000 a month on wine

Johnny Depp was one of the highest-paid actors in the world. His overall net worth may have been as high as US$650 million at one point, according to his former business manager. Now? An estimated US$150 million. And while that’s still a fortune, the Pirates of the Caribbean star has been known to spend wantonly on everything from extravagant gifts for Amber Heard to whole towns in France. Depp has attempted to defend his spending in the past, telling The Wall Street Journal back in 2017, “It’s my money. If I want to buy 15,000 cotton balls a day, it’s my thing.”

Here’s what you need to know about how Depp earned his money – and how he blew it.

He earned big in Hollywood – including making US$68 million from just one film

Johnny Depp (right) as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean with co star Kaya Scodelario – the actor is believed to have banked US$300 million for appearing in the franchise. Photo: Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Depp has come a long way since making his debut in horror film Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984 and shooting to fame in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. As a teenage idol in 21 Jump Street, he was earning US$45,000 per episode of the show in 1987 but since the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, his base salary for films has been more like US$20 million.

He reportedly earned US$300 million in total for appearing in five of the Pirates movies, and was paid US$68 million for playing the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, according to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper. Despite being dropped from Fantastic Beasts in 2020, he still got US$16 million after filming only one scene.

And while Disney’s Pirates franchise may have brought in US$4.5 billion globally, some of Depp’s other films haven’t performed quite as well. The Rum Diaries project (during which time he met Heard), had a production budget of US$45 million and only brought in US$24 million at the global box office. Depp was also dubbed Hollywood’s most overpaid actor by Forbes in 2016, with the publication estimating that there was only a US$2.80 box office return for every US$1 he was being paid.

But he has also accused his financial firm of mismanagement

Johnny Depp at the premiere of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in 2017. Photo: AFP Photo

Depp has accused his former business managers at The Management Group (TMG) of mishandling his money. The US$25 million lawsuit claims the firm took an unauthorised US$28 million contingent fee and loaned US$10 million to third parties without his permission. The star also claims that TMG didn’t keep proper financial records and failed to file his taxes on time.