Annie Leibovitz, famed portrait and fashion photographer known for her famous pictures of a nude John Lennon and Yoko Ono (months before his death) and a pregnant Demi Moore (shot for the cover of Cosmo magazine), is in the middle of a financial melt down that may result in her filing bankruptcy.
It appears that not unlike many Americans, this famous jet set celebrity photographer is over leveraged and lacks the income to continue living a high flying lifestyle. New York financial records indicate that she took out loans totaling 24 million dollars secured by her real estate and her photography collection.
Instead of going to a traditional bank, Ms. Leibovitz went to asset lender, Art Capital Group for the loan that appears to have been a short term financial bailout.
Art Capital Group is a lender of last resort for owners of fine art and has been described as a “pawn shop” by the New York Times. Like pawn shops they take possession of the collateral, or in this case, Leibovitz’s famous photography collection, charge high interest and are merciless in the collection of the loan.
The loans were taken out in 2008 and early 2009, but are now in default and Art Capital Group is suing to take ownership unless the loan can be repaid by this month. The realization that she could lose her life’s work may compel her to file bankruptcy as a last ditch effort to restructure her debts.
Reportedly Leibovitz has earned upwards of 2 million dollars per year so she would be a candidate for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which would allow for a court ordered repayment of her debts over time whereby she could eventually regain title to her real estate and her finances.
Chapter 11 is similar to its cousin Chapter 13 where a repayment of secured and unsecured debts is overseen by the bankruptcy court. Chapter 11, unlike other types of bankruptcy allows for companies and high income earners to avail themselves of bankruptcy protection since it is not constrained by the income and asset limitations of Chapter 7 and 13.
Whether she chooses this option is unknown, but without help she appears to be on the verge of losing everything, including her priceless collection.
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Debt closing in on photographer Annie Leibovitz (AP) – Bankruptcy … – AP – Annie Leibovitz’s artsy, provocative portraits of celebrities regularly grace the covers of Vanity Fair and Vogue, images that have made her as famous as her subjects and earned her millions. Read more: Debt closing in on photographer Annie Leibovitz (AP) … Please read the privacy policy of every external site you visit before disclosing any personal information. “We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for relief under the Bankruptcy Code.” …
Why Didn’t Annie Sell Her Fancy Houses? | Defamer Australia – Annie Leibovitz should probably just file for bankruptcy before her $US24 million loan to Art Capital comes due. But could she have repaid the loan al…
John Edwards Finding Even More Ways to Make His Wife Miserable and … – Barring the intervention of an angel, it seems highly likely that Leibovitz will file for bankruptcy before the Art Capital loan must be repaid next month. Here’s the current state of play: Leibovitz owes Art Capital $24 million. …
Look Out Below | The Big Picture – “Goldman Sachs, which helped finance the loan, now seems to be distancing itself from Art Capital and reaching out to Leibovitz. “We are deeply troubled by recent developments concerning Annie Leibovitz and Art Capital,” says Goldman ….. Readers Digest plans to file for Bankruptcy.. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Readers-Digest-plans-to-file-rb-2943457922.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode= As they say 2040 will be the last year for any printed content. …
Alex Waterhouse-Hayward – It was American photographer Gregory Heisler who publicly criticized Annie Leibovitz for spoiling it for those photographers who tried to look into the soul of their subjects. Heisler remarked that thanks to Leibovitz … This has waned a bit as Leibovitz filed for bankruptcy and Heisler, more or less still relatively unknown, has been vindicated. I wonder what Heisler would say of how portraits are now lit, or in most cases not lit. The advent of the do-everything DSLR …
Webpourri for July 22nd – Hollywood Stars File for Bankruptcy, Stephen Baldwin, Jose Canseco, Victoria Gotti, Annie Leibovitz – ABC News You mean “I’ma celebrity, get me out of here” didn’t resolve Stephen’s financial challenges? Weird. …
