As the star of movies like Ghost Rider and National Treasure, Nicolas Cage was once one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors, with an enviable $150 million (£114.4m) fortune. However, it all came crashing down in 2009 when Cage found himself on the brink of bankruptcy, owing the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a hefty $14 million (£11.8m) in back taxes, as well as millions to various other creditors.

Read on as we look at how Cage managed to go from a sizeable fortune to staring at rock bottom in little over a decade. All dollar amounts in US dollars. 

In 1997, Cage spent $450,000 (£342.5k) on a red Lamborghini Miura SVJ (pictured). The one-of-a-kind custom car was constructed in 1971 for the late Shah of Iran, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi.

And that was just the beginning. Much like his character in Gone in 60 Seconds, it appears Cage has a penchant for flashy vehicles. By 2004, he reportedly owned 30 motorcycles and a hoard of other vintage vehicles, including nine Rolls-Royce cars. So valuable was his car collection that Cage's former business manager claimed in 2009 that he begged the actor to sell some of them to avoid going broke.

It's no secret that Nicolas Cage is a superhero fanatic: he even named his son Kal-El, which is Superman's real name. So it comes as little surprise that Cage splashed out $150,000 (£114.3k) on an original edition of the first ever Superman comic in 1997. Only around 100 copies of the ultra-rare Action Comics No.1 (pictured) exist, and Cage's copy is rumoured to be the best preserved. 

In an unforeseen turn of events, Cage reported his prized possession stolen in 2000, claiming that an unidentified man had broken into his home and taken it along with other comics from his collection. It remained lost until April 2011, when it was found in a storage locker in the San Fernando Valley, California. The comic was returned to Cage, who sold it for almost $2.2 million (£1.7m) at auction.

When Nicolas Cage bought two albino king cobras for $276,000 (£210.2k) in 2005, he decided not to have their venom removed. Instead, the brave – or perhaps just crazy – star opted to keep anti-venom in his home as a safety precaution. The snakes, which he named Moby and Sheba, were so poisonous that anyone they bit would be dead within half an hour.

As a result, Cage kept his dangerous purchase a secret for three years before confessing all on The Late Show with David Letterman. As you'd expect, his neighbours were suitably horrified and threatened to sue him, so Cage surrendered them to a zoo.

He also purchased a two-headed snake for $80,000 (£60.9k) but ultimately also had to donate that to a zoo when feeding it proved too difficult. In an interview with GQ in March 2022, he revealed that he had to hold a spatula between the two heads to stop them from fighting over food. 

The eccentric star owns a variety of non-lethal pets too, most famously spending $150,000 (£114.4k) on an octopus. Why? He claimed the cephalopod helped him with his acting career, although it's since been suggested that the outlandish claim was a ploy to have the pricey purchase written off as a business expense.

Cage also revealed in his recent GQ interview that he is the owner of a Maine Coon cat named Merlin, as well as a couple of turtles and a fish. Cage adopted the animals when the owner of his local pet store died.

Featuring breathtaking beaches and clear, sparkling waters, Cage snapped up the private Leaf Cay island (pictured) for a cool $3 million (£2.3m) in 2006. The 15-acre paradise is part of the Exuma island chain in the Bahamas, and Johnny Depp and magician David Copperfield also own islands in the area.

Unfortunately, Cage’s slice of paradise was one of the first things to go when the tax authorities came knocking. He listed it for $7 million (£5.3m) in a bid to pay off his debts.

Though it sounds like a plot straight out of his hit National Treasure movies, Nicolas Cage actually went on an epic quest to find the Holy Grail – and spent an absolute fortune in the process. 

Cage claimed he was inspired to start his search after spending hours each day meditating and reading philosophy. His search led him to Germany in 2006, where he paid $2.3 million (£1.8m) for the 16th-century Neidstein Castle (pictured). He would go on to sell the castle in 2009.

Cage also reportedly spent $10 million (£7.6m) on the 18th-century Midford Castle (pictured) in Bath, England in 2007.

Speaking of his real-life treasure hunt, Cage said in a 2019 interview with The New York Times Magazine: "You read a book, and in it there’s a reference to another book, and then you buy that book, and then you attach the references. For me, it was all about finding the Grail. Was it here? Was it there?" As you might have guessed, Cage never did find the fabled treasure...

Cage was also once the owner of the infamous LaLaurie Mansion (pictured) in New Orleans, said to be one of the most haunted houses in America. It was previously the home of Madame LaLaurie, a 19th-century socialite and serial killer who was notorious for the torture and murder of enslaved people. Cage purchased the gruesome property for $3.4 million (£2.6m) in 2007.

In a 2014 interview with Vanity Fair, the seemingly fearless actor revealed that he bought the house of horrors as he thought it would be "a good place in which to write the great American horror novel". The book never materialised and neither did any ghosts during his time at the property...

European castles and a haunted house are just the start of Cage’s once-sprawling property portfolio, and at the height of his spending he owned a mind-boggling 15 homes. They included a $25 million (£19m) waterfront mansion in Newport Beach, California; a $15.7 million (£11.9m) country estate in Rhode Island; and an $8.5 million (£6.5m) Vegas residency.

When his money troubles first began, Cage was forced to sell several of his mega-mansions, including the lavish Bel-Air estate (pictured) that he had purchased in 1998. The 11,817-square-foot abode was built in the 1940s and once belonged to late Hollywood icon Dean Martin.

Boasting six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a theatre, a library, and a wine cellar, Cage listed the impressive property for $35 million (£26.6m) in 2010. However, it ultimately sold for just $10.5 million (£8m), less than a third of Cage's asking price.

Cage outbid Leonardo DiCaprio for a Tyrannosaurus Bataar skull in 2007. Reported to be anywhere from 70 million to 96 million years old, the dinosaur skull cost Cage a roar-some $276,000 (£209.9k).

Things took a disastrous turn in 2014, however, when Homeland Security contacted Cage and informed him that the skull might have been stolen from Mongolia and had therefore been purchased illegally. Although he handed it over to the Mongolian government, Cage never got his money back.

Owning an ancient dinosaur skull simply wasn’t enough for Cage, who also splurged on a three-million-year-old piece of meteorite from Mars. His out-of-this world purchase is thought to have cost him $25,000 (£19k), and he even had its authenticity verified by NASA. 

Cage isn’t the only celebrity who collects meteorites. Elon Musk, the CEO at SpaceX (and currently the world's richest person), and Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg also both share the passion.

At the height of his Hollywood fame, Cage bought a luxurious Gulfstream Jet private plane so he could travel around the world to his various homes and acting gigs in style. It’s estimated to have cost him a mammoth $20 million (£15.2m). 

In 2008, his splashy purchase got him into trouble when he found himself owing $666,000 (£507.3k) to the IRS. Cage had improperly deducted numerous personal expenses, including globe-trotting trips on his jet.

Cage evidently liked to travel the seas in style too, and at one point owned a fleet of four superyachts.

The jewel of his collection was the Sarita. Boasting 12 master bedrooms, an onboard jacuzzi, and a lower deck open restaurant, the yacht is estimated to have cost him a hefty $20 million (£15.2m). Like many of his other assets, he was eventually forced to sell the yacht to pay his debts. 

In 2020, Cage was spotted in New Orleans hand in hand with Riko Shibata. As New Orleans is famed for its food, you might expect Cage to have whisked his date to one of the city’s acclaimed restaurants. However, a dinner date was apparently too conventional, and he instead opted to take her to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 to visit his giant pyramid tomb (pictured). The quirky gesture clearly wasn't a turn-off for Shibata and the couple tied the knot the following year.

But back to the pyramid. Cage had the nine-foot-high tomb constructed in preparation for his future demise, with sources claiming it cost him anywhere between $20,000 (£15.2k) to $61,000 (£46.4k).

It's unclear why California-born Cage wanted New Orleans to be his final resting place, although some have speculated that it’s because the 19th-century Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau is buried close by. Sticking with the macabre theme, visitors to Cage's home once claimed that he had shrunken pygmy heads on display.

To Cage’s credit, he's worked tirelessly to pay off his debts. Since his money troubles began, he's starred in 46 films, many of which were straight-to-DVD or video-on-demand releases. While many of these flicks were flops, the tides appear to be turning for the star, who's in the midst of a major comeback. 

Cage's performance in 2021's critically acclaimed drama Pig garnered him Oscar buzz and also scored him a nomination in the Critics' Choice Movie Awards. There's also his new comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which he might just play his wackiest role yet: himself.

Cage confirmed in his spring 2022 interview with GQ that he has settled his debts, and he is now estimated to be worth around $25 million (£19m). 

Now discover the other film and TV stars who spent all their money