Al Pacino loses $50 million after corrupt accountant mismanages his earnings: 'I had nothing'

Despite his mega success spanning five decades, Al Pacino He found himself financially strapped after his career.

In his newly released memoir, “Sonny Boy,” the “Godfather” actor, 84, opened up about the financial toll he took after falling foul of a corrupt accountant who mismanaged the cable's earnings for years.

In 2011, Pacino said, according to Variety, that he “started getting warnings that my accountant at the time, a guy who had a lot of celebrity clients, couldn't be trusted.” The actor recalled “paying a ridiculous amount to rent some big fancy house in Beverly Hills” and footing the bill for an extravagant European trip with his family.

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It wasn't until he returned to the US that he realized his finances weren't adding up.

“I was broke. I had $50 million, and then I had nothing,” he continued. “I had property, but I had no money. In this business, when you make $10 million for a movie, it's not $10 million. Because after lawyers, agents, and publicists and the government, it's not $10 million. , it's in your pocket but you live on it because you lose it, the more it is the less you have.”

“It was just a crazy montage of losses with the kind of money I was spending and where it was going,” he added. “The landscaper was getting $400,000 a year, and I don't exaggerate these things. It just went on and on. Mind you, this was for landscaping at a house I didn't live in.”

Pacino, 84, said he realized he was going broke as he entered his 70s. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

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“I didn't even sign my own checks — the accountant signed them and I let them go,” she added, per Us Weekly.

“I wasn't looking and he didn't tell me how much I had or where it was going,” she continued. “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. Works, and cuts.”

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According to Variety, Pacino didn't realize he was broke until he was in his 70s.

“I wasn't young, and I wasn't going to make the kind of money I had in the films I'd been in. The big paychecks I was used to weren't coming. The pendulum was swinging, and I was having a hard time finding parts for myself.”

One of Pacino's most memorable roles was his participation in the 1983 film “Scarface.” (Everett Collection / Everett Collection)

The legendary actor was forced to reassess his career and began taking on roles he would not have normally accepted.

“'Jack and Jill' was the first film I made after losing my money. To be honest, I did it because I had nothing else,” Pacino wrote. “Adam Sandler wanted me, and they paid me a lot of money for it. So I went out and it helped. I love Adam, he was great to work with and became a dear friend. A great actor and a hell of a person.”

Additionally, Pacino sold his two homes and began charging for seminars at various universities.

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“My seminars were another big find for me. In the past, I would go to colleges all the time and talk to kids there, only to go there and perform for them, in a sense,” he wrote. “I'd tell them a little bit about my life and they'd 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 through? This up?' I could not do these seminars.

The actor was forced to reassess his career after suffering financial losses. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

Pacino's former accountant was convicted of running a Ponzi scheme and served seven and a half years in prison.

The actor has four children: a 1-year-old son, Roman, whom he welcomed with Noor Alfallah in June 2023; daughter Julie Marie, 34, with ex-girlfriend Jan Tarrant; and twins Anton and Olivia, 23, with ex Beverly D'Angelo.