Despite his expertise in martial arts, Jackie Chan’s financial management understanding is less than stellar. Despite being the leading man of over a hundred films and amassing a substantial fortune of approximately $400 million, a mere oversight involving $5 million hardly phases the actor. Within the pages of his autobiography Jackie Chan: Never Grow Up, Only Get Older, Chan unearths a trove of untold stories, including numerous instances where he fell victim to cons, causing his hard-earned money to vanish into the pockets of cunning fraudsters. Nevertheless, being the quintessential Jackie Chan, he takes it all in stride. While the mishaps don’t bother him, the actor openly acknowledges his lack of mastery in competently steering his vast wealth.
Jackie Chan’s Set Designer Fooled Him to Give $5 Million Out Of His Pocket
In his autobiography Jackie Chan: Never Grow Up, Only Get Older, the global star openly admitted he is not always great with money. His fondness for immersing himself in activities he’s most passionate about leaves him paying little to no attention to the whereabouts of his hard-earned earnings. Consequently, when the opportunity arose for him to invest in a plot of land, he fell victim to the deceit of his own set designer.
Entrusted with the set designer’s claim of having personal connections with the landowner, Chan found himself entrapped in an agreement. The actor’s blind trust led him to commit $1,300 per month along with an upfront fee of $40,000, all while he was made to believe that the property was solely available for rent.
This went on for years and came to light when Chan wished to rebuild some properties on the land. During that process, he was informed, and this time an official source that he in fact was conned. They stated the landlord never receive any of his payments neither there was any application request. The only thing he took from the incident was,
“I always have more important things to do. So many people lied to me, yet they haven’t gotten richer,–I have been deceived a lot, but I haven’t become poorer.”
Interestingly, the set designer vanished immediately after his action was brought to light. The actor further revealed that this isn’t the only time, he was cheated on, many of his friends, colleagues, and ex-bosses took advantage of his blind trust.
Jackie Chan Found Himself Clueless About Managing His Oversized Checks
Emerging from a challenging childhood as a refugee kid, Jackie Chan intimately understood the value of money earned through hardship. Raised without affluence, he aspired of achieving prosperity. Yet, as his dreams turned into reality, the extent of his success proved beyond his wildest imagination. He said,
“A guy who hadn’t received proper education, I suddenly had 10 million Hong Kong dollars [more than $1.25 million] overnight. I almost bought everything I wanted in life within a week,”
Therefore he had no idea how to manage this unfathomable amount of wealth he was presented with all at once. He continued by stating,
“One day I went to a luxurious watch store followed by fellow kung fu apprentices carrying a bag of HKD 500,000 cash,”
Chan acquired the majority of his high-priced watches through cash transactions, with a touch of humor evident in his decision to purchase enough to wear a different one each day of the week. He said,
“For one whole week, I wore a different watch every day. I would make arrangements to meet my friends of the same occupation to eat and rolled up my sleeves to expose the watch as soon as we met.”
Without a doubt, he is one of the greatest stars on a global scale, having once held the distinction of being one of the highest-paid actors worldwide. Remarkably, even now, he remains nonchalant about his financial matters, channeling his focus into his passion and generously contributing to society.
Source: Jackie Chan: Never Grow Up, Only Get Older (via LA Times)
