In May 2017, Johnny Depp was dubbed “a star in crisis” by The Hollywood Reporter. At the time, the actor made headlines for reportedly losing $650 million in three years. During that period, he also paid a $7 million divorce settlement to his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Now, the former couple is battling it out in a $50 million defamation suit filed by Depp over Heard’s “wife-abuser” claims. Here’s what’s really happened with the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s finances.

Where Did Johnny Depp Spend His $650 Million?

In October 2012, THR followed Depp’s lawyer and accountant, Jake Bloom and Joel Mandel. Arriving at one of the actor’s five houses, the two revealed that “there just wasn’t enough liquid money to cover Depp’s $2 million in monthly bills” despite earning “more than $650 million in the 13-plus years he had been represented by The Management Group,” which was founded by Mandel and his brother. The publication stated that not even Depp’s assets could cover his expenses. These assets include impulse purchases like three Leonor Fini paintings from a Manhattan Gallery (two were worth $320,000 while the other was a $245,000 gift for his then-girlfriend Heard).

Depp also paid $3.6 million a year for his 40-person staff; $350,000 a month for the maintenance of his 156-foot yacht, and “hundreds of thousands of dollars he paid to sustain his ex-partner, Vanessa Paradis, and their children, Lily-Rose and Jack.” During that visit at Depp’s house, Mandel took out a one-page summary of these expenditures. The actor reportedly “waved it away” and agreed to sell his $10 million yacht, Amphitrite which he renovated for $8 million, and where he’d hosted A-list friends like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Four years later, Depp fired his longtime agent, Tracey Jacobs of United Talent Agency and sued the Mandel brother’s company for $25 million over fraud and mismanagement. TMG counter-sued and alleged the Edward Scissorhands star of not paying their commission on his income from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. “Depp is responsible for his own financial waste,” said the Mandels at the time.

At the time, Depp was going through his divorce battle with Heard and was spending $30,000 a month on wine. During their trial, Mandel also alleged that the actor spent $75 million on purchasing and renovating 14 properties; had over 200 artworks (Klimt, Warhol Modigliani, etc.); and had 12 storage facilities for a memorabilia collection which he archived for $1 million. There was also a time when “he walked into a [high-end jewelry] store, sat for a couple of hours,” according to a source. “They showed him a lot of stuff, gave him champagne, and he walked out with a $400,000 diamond cuff. It was a classic sort of moment because it wasn’t worth $400,000.”

“There were almost always two [security guards with Depp],” the source said of Depp and Heard’s full security team during their trip to Europe. “He had a crew in L.A., a team of eight or 10 that traded off, with private security at the [Sweetzer] homes and the lofts downtown.” THR added: “Those lofts were a collection of penthouses in L.A.’s historic art deco Eastern Columbia Building; Depp has since sold two of the five units, which he bought for $7.2 million in 2007-08 and which were listed early last year at a combined price of $12.78 million.”

Depp had spent too much, that during the lawsuit, it was stated that “Depp’s talent agent wrote to Mandel: ‘Did you tell [J]ohnny … he needs to make $25 million by the end of the year????? What are you doing?????'”

What Is Johnny Depp’s Net Worth Now?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Depp has an estimated net worth of $100 million. Before his controversies, the Dark Shadows star made $100 million per year, making him one of the highest paid actors in the world. Now, he still asks $20 million upfront per film, plus 20% of the backend. As a result, he earned a total of $300 million from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and made $55 million in backend earnings alone from Alice in Wonderland.

In 2020, Depp still received $16 million from the third installment of the Fantastic Beats franchise despite being fired amid his lawsuit with Heard. After their divorce, he paid her a $7 million settlement which she promised to donate to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the ACLU. But recently, it was revealed that Heard only gave a portion of that money. ACLU claimed that they only received $1.3 million of the pledged $3.5 million. $350,000 came from Heard; $100,000 from Depp; $500,000 from Heard’s ex, Elon Musk; and $350,000 from an undisclosed donor. The actress is reportedly worth $8 million these days.