INXS was on the top of the world when a chance encounter, one punch from an angry taxi driver, and a severe head injury changed frontman Michael Hutchence forever. “Things got very heavy in his head,” then-girlfriend Helena Christensen explained (via the New Zealand Herald). Then, on November 22, 1997, Hutchence took his own life.
What happened afterwards — and in the final years of his life — still isn’t clear. According to The Telegraph, when Hutchence died, it was reported that between his share of the INXS accounts and his own personal bank accounts, he had less than $1,000 to his name. Hutchence’s daughter, Tiger Lily, was written into his will after she was born, and should have gotten 50% of all his assets. (The rest was supposed to go to Greenpeace and Amnesty International.) As of 2019, says she’s received a single payment of £500 in cash — or, about $600 USD.
So, where did all his money go? In short: No one knows. Hutchence — like most big stars — hired people to take care of his finances. Various deals have come out over the years, including real estate deals paid for in cash, then set up under the umbrella of various trusts. A $1.5 million villa in France, land in Australia worth well over a million, a bowling alley in Queensland … all belonging to companies without real indications of who actually owns them. Even stranger? When family members requested to visit some of his properties, they were informed that he had never owned them.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).