Ian Somerhalder has disclosed that a disastrous business venture left him with a massive eight-figure debt, forcing him and his family to make drastic sacrifices, Variety reports. In a recent interview with E! News, the former actor explained that severe «financial upheaval» played a significant role in his decision to walk away from a highly lucrative television career.
Somerhalder originally shot to global fame playing Boone Carlyle across four series of ABC’s Lost before becoming a household name as the vampire Damon Salvatore during an eight-season run on The CW’s The Vampire Diaries.
However, behind the scenes of his television success, the actor was battling a mounting financial crisis.
Climbing out of an eight-figure hole
Speaking at the Beverage Forum in Manhattan Beach, Somerhalder reflected on his departure from the entertainment industry. He explained that a poorly constructed business combined with fraudulent activity plunged him and his wife into a financial hole of at least $10 mln.
He credited his wife, Twilight star Nikki Reed, with orchestrating their financial rescue. The couple, who have been married since 2015, were forced to liquidate almost all of their assets. Somerhalder noted that while Reed successfully negotiated them out of the dire situation, they still had to sell their houses, paintings, cars and watches to clear the debts.
Somerhalder had previously taken to Instagram to praise Reed for rescuing him from what he described as a «true nightmare». He wrote that his wife refused to watch him destroy his health and spirit. Instead, she assembled a dedicated team to tackle the negotiations and find a viable exit strategy.
A life beyond the screen
Somerhalder officially retired from the screen following the cancellation of his Netflix sci-fi series V Wars in 2020. He had previously told People magazine that a return to Hollywood is highly unlikely as he considers acting to be firmly in his rearview mirror.
Recalling his decision to quit, he described walking away from the only industry that had ever sustained his family as a daunting prospect. However, he stressed that he has no desire to spend months away on location shooting television shows or constantly transporting his family across the globe.
Having reached a peak in his acting career, Ian Somerhalder is now happily focused on his family alongside his passions for farming, food and energy. He concluded that he no longer feels the need to chase industry awards or traditional markers of Hollywood success.
