Ian Somerhalder has disclosed the full extent of a financial crisis that nearly destroyed him and his wife Nikki Reed, revealing how the couple fought their way out of an eight-figure debt hole through sacrifice and determination.
Speaking at the Beverage Forum in Manhattan Beach, California, on Tuesday, April 28, the 47-year-old actor detailed the devastating financial collapse that followed his departure from acting seven years ago.
"I retired from acting seven years ago," Somerhalder told E! News. "I left an insanely lucrative career in television after financial upheaval from building a business that I didn't build properly. And due to fraud, it put my wife and I into an eight-figure hole."
The former star of The Vampire Diaries, which ran for eight seasons from 2009 to 2017, explained that the debt stemmed from a clean energy company he built while portraying Damon on the hit television series. Somerhalder invested heavily in the venture and made substantial personal guarantees to banks, decisions that would later prove catastrophic.
According to Somerhalder, the financial disaster resulted from multiple factors: "due to greed and fraud within that company and fraudulent activities from our biggest customer." The temporary collapse of the oil and gas industry delivered the final blow, leaving him unable to fulfill promises made to lenders.
The actor acknowledged the magnitude of his miscalculation. "It all came crashing down," he said, reflecting that he "should have been retiring off of one of the biggest TV shows in the world" rather than "starting companies that were not gonna pay me possibly ever."
Somerhalder credited his wife, the 37-year-old Twilight actress, as instrumental to their financial recovery. The debt was "a hard hole to climb out of," he admitted, but Reed's negotiation skills and unwavering commitment proved essential.
"But Nikki and I did it," Somerhalder said. "You know, she really negotiated us out of this deal but we sold houses, paintings, cars, watches, everything."
The couple liquidated substantial personal assets to satisfy their creditors, demonstrating the severity of their financial predicament. Somerhalder has previously praised Reed's efforts in even stronger terms, writing in an Instagram post that she "decided that she didn't want to see her husband ruin his body/mind/spirit and pulled up her bootstraps and got down in the trenches assembling a team to get to the negotiating table to find a way out."
He added that Reed "devoted her life to getting me out of that mess and it almost killed her along the way."
The couple, who tied the knot on April 26, 2015, recently celebrated their 11-year wedding anniversary. They are now parents to an 8-year-old daughter named Bodhi and a 2-year-old son.
Somerhalder's candid revelations offer a sobering reminder of the financial risks associated with entrepreneurial ventures, even for those with substantial earnings from successful entertainment careers. His story underscores the importance of proper business structure, due diligence in partnerships, and the value of having a supportive partner during times of crisis.