As one of Hollywood’s most famous femme fatales, Sharon Stone routinely plays the glamorous and seductive womanizer who lures unsuspecting men to rob and ruin them.
But, the Oscar-nominated actress has now claimed she unwittingly became a victim of the banking crisis herself, losing “half” of her considerable fortune.
The star of films such as Basic Instinct and Silver in the 1990s attended a fundraising event in Los Angeles to receive a Courage Award, when she explained how “banking thinghad impressed him.
The Oscar-nominated actress, 65, was speaking at the Women’s Cancer Research Fund in Beverly Hills.
She was rewarded for raising awareness of breast cancer when she spoke openly about undergoing surgery after being diagnosed with a benign tumor in her breast.
But he talked about mobile phone banking before explicitly mentioning the downfall Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
“I know the stuff you have to work at and figuring out how to text money is hard,” he said in the ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “I’m a tech nerd, but I can write a f—–g check.
“And right now, that’s courage too, because I know what’s happening. I lost half my money in this banking thing, and that doesn’t mean I’m not here.
Stone, who also appeared in Martin Scorsese’s CasinoIt failed to elaborate on 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 10 March.
All deposits at SVB have been secured after the intervention of US President Joe Biden.
However, anyone holding shares in the bank would have suffered huge losses.
High profile investors drowned
Stone’s comments came after several high profile investors were caught up in the collapse. Peter Thiel, The German American billionaire venture capitalist said he had $50 million (£41 million) in the money at the time of SVB’s collapse, despite his venture fund warning portfolio companies that the tech lender was at risk.
His venture capital firm Founders Fund was among those who advised customers to move their deposits to other lenders as concerns about the bank grew.
Thiel later revealed that he maintained a substantial personal account at the bank despite his fear of being exposed.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Thiel, who co-founded tech companies PayPal and Palantir in addition to Founders Fund, said: “I had $50 million of my own money stashed in SVB.”
Losing that kind of money doesn’t faze Thiel, who was the first major investor in Facebook and is now thought to be worth more than $4 billion. On the other hand, SVB’s parent company filed for bankruptcy.
The turmoil generated by the failure also triggered a drop in the share price of Credit Suisse, with rival bank UBS set to launch a rescue takeover over the weekend.
San Francisco-based First Republic also suffered a drop in share price, suggesting that it too may be vulnerable to panic in the industry.
Stone’s comments came as she also revealed that her brother, Patrick Stone, died of heart disease in February at the age of 57.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stone told an audience in Los Angeles, “My brother just died, and that doesn’t mean I’m not here.” “This is not an easy time for any of us. A tough time in the world. … So stand up. Stand up and say what you’re worth. I challenge you. That’s what courage is.”