Ya know those lender television ads that insist they can consolidate your debt so you’re only making one payment each month? Photographer Annie Leibovitz just took the bait.
Except given her stature, she wasn’t dialing an 877-number, but the $30 billion private equity firm Colony Capital. The deal will make Colony her only creditor, paying off her loans to Art Capital, which lent the Vanity Fair and Vogue photog some $24 million secured by her homes and the rights to all her photographs. (Colony is the same firm that bought a $23.5 million loan on Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch.)
But the deal is more than just safety from her original loan sharks; it’s supposedly a strategic plan to pimp out Leibovitz big time.
Ms Leibovitz will retain the rights to more than 100,000 photographs and about 1m negatives stored in a warehouse in Manhattan.
“We will be partners in managing her assets and her business so that Annie can spend her time and focus in pursuing her passion as only she can do,” said Tom Barrack, founder of Los-Angeles-based Colony, which manages about $30bn.
Potential plans include travelling photographic exhibitions, similar to those of Gregory Colbert, the nature photographer, and printing fine art copies of her work, he said. “Colony is a dedicated and creative team,” Ms Leibovitz said. “We will be working on new projects and I will have the support and freedom necessary for nurturing my work and preserving my archive.”
Because how many times can you put Demi Moore’s pregnant stomach on display? Infinity, that’s how many.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
terrwill
Miss Moneymismanagment!