Al Pacino, the legendary Hollywood actor whose career has spanned over five decades, recently opened up about a significant financial disaster that nearly left him broke. In his new memoir, “Sonny Boy,” Pacino, 84, candidly shares how his fortune, once worth $50 million, vanished due to the reckless actions of a corrupt accountant.
A Lavish Lifestyle, A Shocking Realization
Pacino recounted how, in 2011, he first started to receive warnings about his accountant’s questionable practices. The accountant, known for managing the finances of several high-profile celebrities, had long been entrusted with Pacino’s earnings. But as time went on, Pacino began to notice red flags. “to get warnings that my accountant at the time, a guy who had lots of celebrity clients, was not to be trusted,” Pacino said, according to Variety.
The actor described renting a “big fancy house in Beverly Hills” and taking his family on an extravagant European trip. While these experiences were luxurious, something felt off when he returned home.
“I was broke. I had $50 million, and then I had nothing,” Pacino revealed.
Despite owning properties, his liquid funds were gone. He explained, “In this business, when you make $10 million for a film, it’s not $10 million. Because after the lawyers, and the agents, and the publicist, and the government, it’s not $10 million, it’s $4.5 million in your pocket. But you’re living above that because you’re high on the hog. And that’s how you lose it. It’s very strange, the way it happens. The more money you make, the less you have.”
Money Slipping Through His Fingers
Pacino further explained how his spending spiraled out of control under the accountant’s management. “The kind of money I was spending and where it was going was just a crazy montage of loss,” he said. One staggering expense was his landscaping bill: “The landscaper was getting $400,000 a year, and I don’t exaggerate these things. It just went on and on. Mind you, that was for landscaping at a house I didn’t even live in.”
Perhaps the most shocking admission was that Pacino wasn’t even signing his own checks. “I wasn’t even signing my own checks — the accountant signed them and I just let them go by,” he said, according to Us Weekly. He admitted he had little awareness of how much money he had or where it was going. “I wasn’t looking and he didn’t tell me how much I had or where it was going,” Pacino shared. “And I wasn’t keeping track of who got what. It was all about: Let’s keep this dumb actor going, and I was keeping track of who got what. I was all about: Let’s keep this dumb actor happy, just keep him working, and will reap.”
The Harsh Reality of Financial Ruin
The realization of being broke struck Pacino in his 70s. “I wasn’t a young buck, and I was not going to be making the kind of money from acting in films that I had made before. The big paydays that I was used to just weren’t coming around anymore. The pendulum had swung, and I found it harder to find parts for myself,” Pacino told Variety.
Faced with dwindling offers and financial pressure, Pacino took on roles he might have otherwise passed up, including the comedy “Jack and Jill.” “‘Jack and Jill’ was the first film I made after I lost my money. To be honest, I did it because I didn’t have anything else,” Pacino confessed. He praised Adam Sandler, saying, “Adam Sandler wanted me, and they paid me a lot for it. So I went out and did it, and it helped. I love Adam, he was wonderful to work with and has become a dear friend. He also just happens to be a great actor and a hell of a guy.”
Reinventing Himself to Survive
To stay afloat, Pacino began selling properties and started charging for seminars at universities and other venues. “My seminars were another big find for me. In the past, I used to go to colleges all the time and talk to the kids there, just to get out there and perform for them, in a sense,” he wrote. “I’d tell them a little bit about my life and have them ask me questions. … I didn’t get paid for it. I just did it. Now that I was broke, I thought, ‘Why don’t we follow this up?’ There were more places I could go and do these seminars. Not necessarily universities. I knew there was a wider market for this. So I started traveling around. And I found that they worked. Audiences came because I still had popularity.”
Pacino’s former accountant was later convicted of running a Ponzi scheme and served seven and a half years in prison. The ordeal left a significant mark on the iconic actor, but Pacino’s resilience has shown through. Today, he continues to find ways to rebuild, proving his indomitable spirit.
Pacino is a father of four, including his one-year-old son, Roman, with Noor Alfallah; daughter Julie Marie, 34, with ex-girlfriend Jan Tarrant; and twins Anton and Olivia, 23, with ex Beverly D’Angelo.
