As one of Hollywood’s most famous femme fatales, Sharon Stone has regularly played the role of the glamorous and seductive woman who lures unsuspecting men to their doom.
But the Oscar-nominated actress has now claimed she herself was unknowingly the victim of a banking crisis and lost “half” of her considerable fortune.
While appearing at a fundraiser in Los Angeles to receive a Courage Award, the star of 1990s films like Basic Instinct and Silver broke down in tears as she explained how the “bank matter‘ had influenced her.
The 65-year-old Oscar-nominated actress addressed the Women’s Cancer Research Fund in Beverly Hills.
She received the reward for raising breast cancer awareness after opening up about an operation she underwent after discovering a benign tumor in her breast.
But then she talked about cell phone banking, before apparently referring to the bank’s collapse Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
“I know it’s difficult to navigate and figure out how to text the money,” she said in the ballroom at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “I’m a technical idiot, but I can write a damn check.
“And at the moment that’s also courage, because I know what’s going to happen. I just lost half my money on this bank thing and that doesn’t mean I’m not here.”
Stone, who was also there Casino by Martin ScorseseShe doesn’t say exactly how the “banking thing” cost her so much money.
It is believed that she was referring to the turmoil surrounding the collapse of the SVB on March 10th.
All deposits with the SVB were protected following intervention by US President Joe Biden.
However, anyone who had shares in the bank would have suffered a significant loss.
High profile investors caught up in collapse
Stone’s comments came after a number of high-profile investors were caught up in the collapse. peter thiel, The German-American billionaire venture capitalist said he had $50m (£41m) in SVB when it went under, despite his venture fund warning portfolio companies the tech lender was at risk.
His venture capital firm Founders Fund was among those who had advised clients to spread their deposits among other lenders as concerns grew about the bank.
Thiel later revealed he held a sizeable personal account with the bank, although there were fears it was exposed.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr. Thiel, who co-founded tech companies PayPal and Palantir alongside Founders Fund, said, “I had $50 million of my own money in SVB.”
Losing that kind of money wouldn’t have ruined Thiel, who was the first major investor in Facebook and is now valued at more than $4 billion. The parent company of SVB, on the other hand, filed for bankruptcy.
The turbulence sparked by the failure also triggered a slump in Credit Suisse’s share price, with rival bank UBS planning a bailout over the weekend.
San Francisco-based First Republic was also hit by a fall, suggesting it could also be hit by the panic sweeping the industry.
Stone’s comments came after she also revealed that her brother Patrick Stone had died of heart disease in February at the age of 57.
She told the LA crowd, “My brother just passed away and that doesn’t mean I’m not here,” Stone said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “This is not an easy time for all of us a difficult time in the world. … So get up. Get up and say what you’re worth. I challenge you. That’s what courage is.
Source : finance.yahoo.com