Nicolas Cage Sues Business Manager For 'Financial Ruin'

LOS ANGELES — Nicolas Cage sued his former business manager for $20 million on Friday, claiming bad advice and mismanagement led him toward financial ruin.

Cage filed the lawsuit against Samuel J. Levin and his firm.

"Instead of protecting and preserving Cage's wealth during one of the greatest economic periods in the country's history, Levin placed Cage in numerous highly speculative and risky real estate investments, resulting in Cage suffering catastrophic losses," the lawsuit states.

Levin served as Cage's business manager from 2001 to 2008 and collected millions of dollars in management fees, court documents state.

Cage, 45, relied on Levin's statements and advice and couldn't have known about the financial trouble he was facing until after he hired new management, according to the lawsuit.

A phone message left for Levin at his firm Levin & Co. Management Inc. was not immediately returned.

Public records show Levin has been a licensed certified public accountant in California for nearly 25 years and has no public record of disciplinary actions.

An Oscar-winning actor, Cage is known for his dramatic roles in films such as "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Adaptation" as well as action turns in "The Rock" and the "National Treasure" films.

Comments

[Ed and Deb Shapiro]

07:04 AM on 10/19/2009

I feel for anyone who loses all their hard erned money but people should spend time and efort knowing where the money is being invested and when there is big money involved learn as much as possible about investing. It might be wise to have second opinions.

Nothing is permanent.­.. certainly not money,

Ed

[TheArtisan]

04:59 PM on 10/29/2009

I agree, but doesn't a certain level of fiduciary responsibi­lity come with being a licensed and certified public accountant­? It's kind of like if a licensed profession­al engineer designs a bridge, which is built and collapses. Should there have been a second opinion on that design?

[kdlaiusa]

01:25 AM on 10/19/2009

I think actors , who are mostly financiall­y illiterate­, should not entrust their hard earn money to "investors­". Just keep making the money and save them in the damn bank. Interest is crap but you lose nothing at the end of the day. Maybe the stupidest way is the best way to preserve money.

[americanrevolution]

06:19 AM on 10/19/2009

Very good advice!!!!­!!

[FreedomCorpse]

05:55 PM on 10/18/2009

As the contrarian investor I am, this is no surprise. Almost anyone with money to invest has gotten burned, except the execs at the banks and 'investmen­t groups'. The next major correction down is around the corner whether in months or the first half of next year, I'm not sure but it is going down. I lost 1.28% in 2008 and everything has recovered nicely for me as expected, the next leg up for us, the hated bears, is around the corner. I'm glad I don't have any investor credential­s, if I did I would know that I was only educated in economic deception.

[oldschoololdsoul]

05:14 PM on 10/18/2009

He got taken by a mini Madoff. This guy was financiall­y raped by a crooked moneyman. But sure, blame the victim. In a world where no one is responble or accountabl­e for wrongdoing­, I guess the consensus is everybody deserves to get screwed while the bad guys get away.

[dukeuch]

04:47 PM on 10/29/2009

Never understood why a guy like Cage, or an athlete, or anyone pulling in millions/m­ovie or year, would have a problem simply investing in mutual funds, treasury bonds, etc. I mean, over time, with a conservati­ve mix, you will be getting 5-6%. On $20 mill, that's $1,000,000­/year! On top of your annual salary. Not enough?

[RustNeverSleeps]

01:45 PM on 10/18/2009

Always keep an eye on the nest eggs Nick. Let's face it, you f#$ked up.

[Okieborn]

10:26 AM on 10/18/2009

Da** !
All of that hard work for nothing !!
What a bummer !!

[KIVPossum]

04:08 AM on 10/18/2009

I don't have millions laying around to invest. But you can be sure if I did it would not be turned over to one man to manage for me, unsupervis­ed, unaudited.

[andhakari]

03:44 AM on 10/18/2009

So he made 10s of millions in investment­s through one company, and he couldn't be bothered to hire an independen­t CPA or annalist to audit the books? A sucker born every minute...

[hottingers]

02:12 AM on 10/18/2009

Yeah, I suppose the guy made him make Face Off.

[JailNeoconVicts]

03:24 AM on 10/18/2009

Face/Off was a gigantic hit. You should be so lucky as to be the star of a movie like that.

[andhakari]

03:40 AM on 10/18/2009

It might have made money, but it was a dreadful movie.

[rhubardpi]

12:27 AM on 10/18/2009

I saw one of his movies, I think called "Wicker Man". It is only the 3rd movie I walked out of in 57 yrs of moving going. He owes me $8.00. The popcorn was good so no charge for it.

[FreedomCorpse]

05:46 PM on 10/18/2009

but you recovered from the $8 loss I presume.

[dukeuch]

05:59 PM on 10/29/2009

Try to see the original "Wicker Man", from 1973, starring Edward Woodward. much better, more original, weirder.

[lmvd3]

11:30 PM on 10/17/2009

And then the PR lawsuit quietly goes away, but the guy who cannot manage money (Cage) looks like the victim to everyone..­.

[RJII]

05:59 PM on 10/17/2009

real estate has tanked for many longterm investors who invested during the boom. props have decreased in value, tenants are jobless or lost wages,can'­t sell, can't borrow-- seen many go under-- that's the risk. new investors are getting great bargains now at the older's loses. It seems that Cage was too heavily invested in real estate for not being hands on.

[satyriasis]

04:36 PM on 10/17/2009

He should have known that the same kind of vile people he portrayed in Lord of War also dominate the financial industry.

Lesson learned the hard way.

[KingClayton]

04:33 PM on 10/17/2009

His BAD acting led him to financial ruin.

[madisonhack]

02:54 PM on 10/17/2009

The reason the rate of returns on investment­s is high is because the risks are high.

Gambling.