Big names from the music industry are worth millions of dollars, and each has a good amount of wealth. Knowing this, there are times when we witness them lose money due to various causes. While sometimes it’s due to their own actions, there may be cases where their bank accounts get hurt by the ones they trust. Scammers are what I’m talking about.
Imagine hiring someone to deal with your money so you can focus more on your hard work and then discovering that the person you have known and trusted for years for this job stole from you. It’s damage to the finances and a betrayal of trust, precisely what Alanis Morissette went through years ago.
The musician rose to fame during the 90s and has consistently increased her net worth. Naturally, she needed someone to take care of the finance part of the job so she could focus more on her music. So, she hired Jonathan Schwartz as her business manager in 2009.
Everything went well for a while. Schwartz managed Morrissette’s bank accounts and bills while assuring her she had enough money to sustain even her grandkids. He told her she did not have to think about the money part, and Alanis trusted him despite her concerns due to being unable to check her finances properly because of Schwartz’s objections.
This situation lasted for years until the musician decided that she did not want to work with Jonathan anymore. She probably was uncomfortable with not seeing her financial records because of him. Thus, she hired a new business manager in his place, and soon after, a shocking truth was revealed. Schwartz stole approximately $5 million from Morissette!
Without losing time, the singer sued him and the company he worked for. After this, Jonathan Schwartz pleaded guilty and claimed that he also stole from his other clients. During the trials, he stated that he was ashamed of the crime he allegedly committed because of his gambling addiction. He apologized to the public, clients, and colleagues through an open letter. In addition to apologies, Schwartz also expressed how much he suffered in the letter and how relieved he was for getting caught.
H explained his condition as follows:
“I lived a double life since no one other than my bookie knew I had this ‘dark’ side. At first, I ‘borrowed’ a little from clients, with the hopes that I would pay them back if I won that night’s bet. That snowballed, and as I kept losing, I kept stealing. I kept telling myself that I just needed one lucky break, and I’ll pay them back. That lucky break never came — thankfully. I say thankfully because when I was finally caught, a bright spotlight shined on my deplorable conduct. I could not hide any longer and hit rock bottom. By seeing how pathetic I had become, I finally got the courage to ask for help.”
He might have suffered from gambling addiction, but it was not accepted as a valid reason for his actions by Morissette or the court. So, inevitably, justice was served, Schwartz was given six years in prison, and the musician managed to take her money back. But was it a happy ending?
During the trials, Morissette expressed that her ability to trust was broken because of Jonathan Schwartz, and she was hurt emotionally as much as financially. Thus, it can be said that this incident resulted in a just way but negatively impacted Alanis Morissette.
