The famously eccentric star lost his £112 million fortune after living large for decades. Some of Nicolas’ strange purchases include an ultra-rare Superman comic, a meteorite from Mars, two albino king cobras, a two-headed snake, an octopus, a fleet of exotic cars and motorcycles, a private jet, and a a 67-million-year-old dinosaur skull from the Gobi Desert, which he bought for £207,000 ($276,000) and was later forced to return.
He also had a thing for weird and wonderful properties, including the £2.65 million LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans known for its horrific history and supernatural occurrences. He also reportedly bought a private island for £1.7 million, and a castle in England for £7.5 million.
Nicolas’ extensive property portfolio came with an even bigger property tax bill, totalling a reported £4.7 million. “I was over-invested in real estate. The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time,” he told 60 Minutes. “I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy.”
He later explained to GQ that the Global Financial Crisis left him with property he couldn’t get rid of. “I didn’t believe in stocks because I think they’re like gambling and they’re dangerous, but you can dump a stock,” he said. “You can’t get out of real estate that quickly.”
Nicolas was able to pay off his debts by taking any film role that came his way, particularly straight-to-DVD movies. “When I was doing four movies a year, back to back to back, I still had to find something in them to be able to give it my all,” he told GQ.
“They didn’t work, all of them. Some of them were terrific, like Mandy, but some of them didn’t work. But I never phoned it in. So if there was a misconception, it was that. That I was just doing it and not caring. I was caring.” Nicolas is now debt-free and has a reported net worth of £22.4 million.
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