Photographer Annie Leibovitz reaches deal with lender to keep artwork, homes

[SoCalDem]

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/09/11/2009-09-11_photographer_annie_leibovitz_reaches_deal_to_keep_.html


BY Jose Martinez
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, September 11th 2009, 1:42 PM


Cash-strapped photographer Annie Leibovitz isn't going to lose her life's work or her homes - at least not yet. The celebrity shutterbug reached a deal Friday with Art Capital Group that will let her hang onto her prized art and real estate collections worth some $80 million.

Leibovitz had put up as collateral her photography portfolio and homes in Greenwich Village and Rhinebeck last year, when she took out a $24 million loan from the Manhattan arts lender to escape a colossal financial hole.

snip

Under the deal, Art Capital Group dropped the suit against Leibovitz in Manhattan Supreme Court, and gave her an extension on her deadline to repay the loan. She was facing a deadline earlier this week to pay back the loan. While Leibovitz was able to buy back Art Capital's right to act as agent for her photo and real estate collections - for an undisclosed price - she's still on the hook to pay back the loan.

The Vanity Fair photographer also has the option to peddle her homes and photos (excuse me??Peddle???) if she feels that's necessary to repay the loan.

"We're gratified to be able to further assist Ms. Leibovitz to achieve financial stability and proud to have been of such value to her at this juncture in her life and career," said Ian Peck, CEO of Art Capital Group.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/09/11/2009-09-11_photographer_annie_leibovitz_reaches_deal_to_keep_.html#ixzz0QpMOLiKx

[Warpy]

1. I was wondering how anyone could get into that deep a financial hole

until I realized "Manhattan" was part of the problem.

I guess she just got sucked into that culture of the high flying financier since she was famous enough to be invited to all the "best" parties to give them a little color.

I hope she's able to dig herself out of it. Unfortunately, she's going to find her art isn't going to fetch anything near its estimate these days.

[xultar]

16. This is fucking proof why we need healthcare reform AND gay marriage.

[KittyWampus]

33. She didn't inherit anything of value from Sontage. It all went to Sontag's son

"When the state of Leibovitz’s finances later became public, outlets like Salon trumpeted the 'gay tax' theory, the idea that Leibovitz’s finances had been depleted by the taxes she’d had to pay on her inheritance from Sontag. That wasn’t true. With the exception of four items of only sentimental value, the bulk of Sontag’s estate went to David Rieff, Sontag’s only child. Leibovitz’s relationship with Sontag was not mentioned in Sontag’s New York Times obituary, and Leibovitz did not speak at Sontag’s memorial service."

[Tangerine LaBamba]

34. Gay marriage wouldn't matter here -

In fact, Sontag only left Annie four personal items. The talk about having left her so much real estate in her will was unfounded.

The entire estate went to Sontag's son...................

[KittyWampus]

32. she did work on her Manhattan building that damaged the house next door.

From the FPP's article:
"For days, a crew had been digging below the townhouses to build the sub-basement. The ground beneath the buildings had actually been underwater until 1820, when landfill turned what had been the Hudson River into buildable land west of Hudson Street. In the midst of the excavation, the wall Leibovitz’s building shared with the little trapezoidal building at 311 West 11th Street groaned and sank several inches. The wall separated from the floors, leaving a gaping hole. Fire trucks encircled the scene, and Con Ed workers raced to locate and repair a burst gas line. Insurance covered much of the damage, but the young family next door, whose home was immediately condemned, sued Leibovitz. Under a settlement the parties reached in 2003, Leibovitz would have to purchase their home for $1.87 million."


This among other things.

[BlooInBloo]

2. I'm not sure why we should feel for her any more than we feel for any othere rich people.

[xultar]

6. I thought her partner was sick and she took care of her for a long while

and that is why her money ran out.

[SoCalDem]

7. Susan Sontag..I think

and yes she did care for her for a few years that she was sick..

even "big" money is no protection when big health costs loom..

[xultar]

9. Shows how the 'progressives' on this goddamned board seem to have forgotten

how to care about people.

[Statistical]

21. Not hardly. She lived way way way beyond her means for two decades.

[xultar]

22. Still though, she did take care of Sontag and her father. We all live beyond

our means. Technically we should all be in huts and shit eating porridge and wearing smocks.

[SoCalDem]

24. I'll have a yellow smock, please

I don't understand the vitriol. She may have lived beyond her "means", but then her "means" was going along swimmingly, until ..well we all know what happened....and people who ended up with "property" have just that..property, especially if no one wants to, or can afford to buy it.

That's what's driving so many foreclosures.. people cannot sell their homes & escape.. they are trapped in them, and obligated for the debt, whether they can now afford it or not..

[Statistical]

43. She received no property from her partner.

She recently sold one of HER properties for $11 mil she had bought it for $1.2 million less than 12 years ago.

However she had $9.9 million worth of mortgages, home equity loans, and line of credit against it.

Classic example of someone living BEYOND their mean. It doesn't matter if you make $20,000 a year or $2.2 million is you spend MORE than you make eventually you go bankrupt.

Lucky for her she has a $50 mil portfolio but likely she is eventually going to have to sell some of it off.

[SoCalDem]

44. I;m not the one who said anything about where she got her money

I posted this mainly to bitch about the use of the word "peddle"..

Rich people have money management problems? not a surprise.. look at our own government:rofl:

[Statistical]

31. True but that didn't run her millions into debt.

She hated her side gig of $100,000 per personal photo. Doing just one a month would have given her an income for life. She routinely missed appointments or took months even years to complete a gig. Horrible work ethic for anything she found pedestrian.

She bought tons and tons of real estate. She got lair loans and lied on them inflating her income and assets by 300%.

She routinely went over budget on "projects" like turning a $200K renovating into a $1.4 million project. She undertook a very risk sub basement renovation in a townhouse without adequate insurance and destroyed the supporting wall for the ajoining properties costing her $1.6 million because the properties were considered unlivable.

She spent way more than she produced in income year after year. She kept the lifestyle up by taking 3rd,4th, even 5th mortgages on real estate she owned.

When she needed some cash for her mounting debt she sold a property for $11.1 million she had bought it for $1.8 million 12 year prior. Had she simply let it apreciate her real estate would have net her nearly $800K a year in appreciation. Instead all the mortgages totaled $9.8 million.

Pure and simple as good as a photographer as she was, she was utterly horrible with money. No different than say Mike Tyson or a powerball winner who goes bankrupt.

[BlooInBloo]

27. Possibly I'm mistaken, but I thought I understood her to have tens of millions....

That really all went to her partner's illness?

If that's the case, then fair enough, and sympathy deserved.

[SoCalDem]

40. "tens of millions" may be the "on paper" worth, but

we all know how that works out when push comes to shove..

My dear husband has THREE "priceless" collections:
coins...LOTS of them
pre-WWII American Flyer trains (boxes & boxes of 'em..big boxes)
British die-cast WWII era toys

BUT..

I remind him constantly that until he sells them they are just boxes of "stuff" :evilgrin:

These days, if your "worth" is tied up in artwork & real estate, you probably owe more than you could get if you sold.

If a kidnapper called you today, and said "I need $250K by tomorrow, or we'll kill your .....", and your house is "worth" 250K, could you have the cash tomorrow?

I did not post this because I thought she was a wonderful person who deserved our pity.. I posted it mainly because of the word "peddle"..:grr:

[BlooInBloo]

41. "I posted it mainly because of the word "peddle"" - Heh. That I can appreciate.

[KittyWampus]

35. Her debt has nothing to do with Sontag or Sontag's death.

[brendan120678]

3. Just another one of those rich elite that try to get our sympathy. (nt)

[xultar]

10. Are you FUCKING SERIOUS?

[spanone]

13. this place is brimming with assholes lately

[xultar]

15. Brimming? Shit, over-mutherfucking-flow of assholes.

[Lance_Boyle]

4. Um, Annie? You're in a hole. Stop digging.

Sell a house or two and pay your damned debts. You're not exempt just 'cuz you're sorta famous and apparently used to be rich. For fuck's sake - you don't borrow *more* to be able to afford to pay a fee to stop collections on a debt you already owe. Just fucking pay your debt! How many houses do you need? You're not that big...

[xultar]

12. She's trying to keep the homes left to her by her dead wife...but since she can't

marry her wife she gets fucked.

Oooooooooo I wanna smack some fucking heads.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

36. No homes were left to her -

Sontag's entire estate went to her son, David.

That canard about "gay inheritance" in this matter has been soundly disproven......................

[KittyWampus]

38. No, she isn't. Sontag her nothing of value.

[Stevenmarc]

5. Translation= the lawsuit has created some very bad PR and is costing us business

[xultar]

8. To all the FUCKING ASSES....Her partner died of cancer. Why we need GAY MARRIAGE!

As Suze Orman pointed out in her Valentine’s Day wish for gay marriage, same-sex couples do not have the same privileges as straight married couples when it comes to inheritance. If your partner passes away and leaves her estate to you, you have to pay up to 50 percent of the value of your inheritance in taxes. However, if you and your partner were recognized as a married couple, you wouldn’t have to pay a dime. And it is precisely this unjust double standard that got Annie Leibovitz into financial trouble.

When Sontag died in 2004, she bequeathed several properties to Leibovitz, who was forced to pony up half of their value to keep them. Yes, she makes a nice chunk of change from Vanity Fair, and yes, she probably could have just sold the properties when the market was good in 2004, but that’s not really the point. The point is she should never have been in the position of paying or selling to not pay as much in the first place. Her wealth and poor decision-making are incidental.

Some snarky commentators have remarked that Leibovitz is getting what she deserves for living beyond her means. In many ways, she probably could have prevented her current crisis, but I wonder how many of these “tough” commentators would feel if they suddenly had to pay half of the value of their homes to the government in order to keep on living there.


http://www.afterellen.com/blog/juliamiranda/annie-leibovitz-is-in-a-jam
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So all this rabid mindless hate for rich people, is that what it means to be 'progressive'? Sounds stupid, Wes Clark is rich, he just donated 21,000 to Wilson's opponent? You hate him? What about Soros? You hate him?

Fucking wake up people, pull your fucking heads out of your asses.

[tammywammy]

11. Thank you for your post. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

14. +1

[dionysus]

17. .

:thumbsup:

a lot of "liberals" despise anyone who is rich, for any reason.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Thank you for saving my fingers the work.

The very idea of some of these people here. Aside from the bigoted legal status that made Annie's problems possible, it is just stunning that on a so called liberal board, the two women in question, and their vastly important work would be trashed at all. For crying out loud. Only the set photographer of a geneartion of activists and artist. Only a great towering writer.

[dugaresa]

23. While I totally agree with you, an article posted by another user below

states

"When the state of Leibovitz’s finances later became public, outlets like Salon trumpeted the “gay tax” theory, the idea that Leibovitz’s finances had been depleted by the taxes she’d had to pay on her inheritance from Sontag. That wasn’t true. With the exception of four items of only sentimental value, the bulk of Sontag’s estate went to David Rieff, Sontag’s only child. Leibovitz’s relationship with Sontag was not mentioned in Sontag’s New York Times obituary, and Leibovitz did not speak at Sontag’s memorial service."

[BlooInBloo]

28. Uh.... I'm all for gay marriage.

[Hannah Bell]

29. luckily, she's a rich, well-connected gay person, & will keep her (extensive, expensive) property.

had she been a poor gay person, she'd likely be on the street.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

39. To you, another FUCKING ASS,

you're all wrong about Leibovitz's situation.

It was her own bad money management that got her into this - financial irresponsibility, that's all.

Again - and maybe you'll finally get this - Susan Sontag left her entire estate to her only child, her son, David Reiff.

Can't get any simpler than that.....................

[Statistical]

42. Claims unsupported by the facts.

I am all for single payer & marriage equality however even with both she would be in the exact same position.

She was incredibly (almost unbelievably) stupid with money.

expenses > revenue = eventually the party ends.

[Crabby Appleton]

19. Here's a good article on how she got in so much financial trouble

There's a lot of mistaken notions about how she got so much debt.

http://nymag.com/fashion/09/fall/58346/

[xultar]

20. Thanks for posting.

[dugaresa]

25. reading that article basically shows a very artistic person who

got way out of control and to be honest it really is sad that no one stepped in to help her out and teach her how to balance a checkbook and keep her expenses in line.

[arcadian]

26. It's so heart warming when the filthy rich find a way to keep their wealth.

:cry::eyes:

[dugaresa]

30. after reading that article, I am shocked at the financial ineptitude

she exhibited. In fact if anything that article shows how someone who is rich and famous gets way too many passes when folks like me would have quite possibly be in the gutter.

heartwarming, not at all.

the only thing that i think is sad is that no one seemed to step in to help her, rich or poor, it helps to have friends who care. i wonder that people who recognize her problems now weren't some of the folks who leached off of her or benefited from her bad judgment.

me, i watch every penny.

[Statistical]

37. Mike Tyson earned $300mil in his lifetime and is now broke and owes IRS $20 mil.

It doesn't matter how much you make, if you expenses > revenue you will eventually go broke.

[AngryAmish]

45. It's a very human story

But being able to crank out portraits for $100k should keep her liquid. The problem is the people paying for the potraits are not famous and therefore not much fun to be around.