It can be assumed that being one of the most iconic personalities from comic book world, who has executive produced all the Marvel movies apart from playing cameos in them, there is no need for Stan Lee to be ever bothered about money. However, a report from The Daily Beast reveals that Stan Lee’s financial situation is in a mess courtesy people around him who have been manipulating him to usurp his wealth.
An anonymous source called the whole thing as “a real fucking mess,” and Lee is currently facing tough times. During the last few months, he lost $1.4 million due to some technical problem related to a wire transfer, and another $300,000 were stolen from one of his bank accounts by using a fraudulent check issued to Hands of Respect, an organization that Stan Lee is not even associated with anymore. Hands of Respect was some kind of charity, set up by Stan Lee and Jerry Olivarez, the former ex-business partner of Lee’s daughter JC.
Although Hands of Respect was a money making venture which had a prominent presence in promotional materials involving Lee, his family claims that they have not yet seen any of the profits and are presently trying to audit the business. Talking about the partnership, JC had a negative opinion of it:
“Jerry and [an associate] promised to make me and my Dad a lot of money, but we got nothing out of it except losses. There was a lot of sexism involved with the way Jerry and [the associate] treated me… These guys separated me from my Dad. They alienated me. They used me. They did very bad paperwork, and they were very sneaky… They ruined my life.”
However, an even bigger issue mentioned by the sources is about there being new people who entered Lee’s circle in the months following the recent demise of his wife, Joan. They might be people who could be trying to manipulate their way into Lee’s bank account, as per a “family insider:”
“[JC’s] she’s never met a con man she doesn’t like, you know? Stan is not a whole lot better. Maybe their contemporaries and friends are all dead, and now they just have a bunch of hangers-on and sketchy-ass people hanging around. I have the feeling that he has been taken by everyone in the world.”
Since the report is generally based on unidentified sources, we advise you caution before believing everything that is being said, but, it is intriguing and unsettling a development.
