The 13 Most Expensive Celebrity Purchases Of All Time

For celebrities, even wearing designer label clothing in public can garner lucrative contracts — often paying $250,000 per year or more. Some multi-year contracts garner millions. In a world where content creators are celebrities in their own right, even lower-level influencers can make a lot of money for just mentioning promotions and sponsors. In a 2009 interview with Glamour UK via Today, Beyonce reportedly turned her old apartment into the equivalent of a walk-in closet, receiving gifts from fashion houses that included around 15 purses per month. So while the rest of us have to source luxury Bottega bag alternatives for less money, Beyonce, currently worth some $780 million, has had free designer items shipped to her every month.

Lesser known is how celebrities spend their money, and a quick look at some of their spending habits would have you believe many are financially illiterate. A few of these items are unquestionably some of the dumbest things you can waste money on, while others appear that way unless you view them as an investment in their brand or a spend on immeasurable assets like health.

Ashton Kutcher's interest in technology is well-known. Aside from being known as an avid sports gambler, he's also an avid startup investor. As per Crunchbase, Kutcher has investments in 72 companies. While he's not known as an investor in Virgin Galactic, billionaire Richard Branson's public spaceflight company, he made a gamble of a different sort on a $200,000 ticket to outer space. It was a gamble with high stakes that his celebrity wife, Mila Kunis, didn't believe was properly risk assessed before taking on.

Virgin Galactic had been selling tickets for public spaceflight after a last test run in 2021. Kutcher was supposed to be on the next public flight, alongside the more than 600 people who had already purchased tickets in the range of $200,000 to $250,000 each. However, in a July 2021 interview with Cheddar, Kutcher said, "When I got married and had kids, my wife encouraged (sic) that it was not a smart family decision to be heading into space when we have young children." That must have hurt, especially considering Kutcher purchased those tickets back in 2012 as the 500th customer of Virgin Galactic, about three years before he married Mila Kunis and became a family man.

Nicholas Cage financial issues have been documented widely, with a May 2017 CNBC story detailing the ways Cage burned through $150 million, leaving him with $25 million. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) demanded another $6.3 million for property taxes for 15 residences he owned at the time. Along the way, Cage made purchases of weird, obscure things like shrunken pygmy heads and $150,000 on a pet octopus. The trouble created by his spending and unpaid taxes were the tip of the iceberg according to what Cage told GQ Magazine, since he was also "spending $20,000 a month trying to keep my mother out of a mental institution."

Included in his list of pricey purchases was a $276,000 dinosaur skull purchased at auction in March 2007 from the I.M. Chait gallery. After outbidding Leonardo DiCaprio for the skull, Cage received both an authentication certificate and a call from the Department of Homeland Security in July 2014 related to the item. The skull was illegally smuggled out of Mongolia. Neither the gallery nor Cage were determined to be at fault, and Cage agreed to return the skull to Mongolian authorities. While this wasn't exactly one of the worst financial crimes committed by celebrities, on purpose or accidentally, it was one of the most financially questionable.

While there are hidden costs to pet ownership pet owners should be aware of, a mansion isn't one of them. Yes, a dog house isn't outside the realm of a reasonable purchase for your pup. Still, Paris Hilton's $325,000 purchase of what she describes in her Twitter post as a "two-story doggy mansion that has air conditioning, heating, designer furniture, and a chandelier," is a bit much considering that future generations question if they'll ever be able to afford a home. According to Elle Decor, the house is a 300-square-foot Spanish-style villa protected by a wrought iron gate and an exterior surrounded by a professionally landscaped yard. Architectural Digest also noted the dog mansion's interior is adorned with Philippe Starck furnishings.

As per the U.S. Energy Administration's (EIA) last survey of residential energy consumption updated May 2018, 15.4 million Americans live without air conditioning, while one-in-three U.S. households had challenges affording adequate heating. In some cities, people live in less than 300 square feet of space due to affordability, and a 2024 study of homelessness by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found that 771,480 Americans experienced homelessness every night in 2024 — 150,000 of those Americans were children. Meanwhile, in Hilton's world, housing has gone to the dogs.

It's understandable why someone would spend a lot of money on a mattress. The perfect mattress can do wonders for your spine alignment, body temperature, and pain relief. This all helps you rest better, which could obviously lead to higher productivity for a success-driven individual like DJ Khaled. A deficit of sleep, called sleep debt, is hard to recover from, and can have the opposite effect to the aforementioned benefits.

Sleep is currency if you believe the celebrities spending big money on designer mattresses like Drake, who reportedly spent $395,000 on a Grand Vividus mattress by luxury Swedish bed maker Hästens in 2020. Not to be outdone, in May 2025 as per MSM, DJ Khaled spent $1 million on a top-of-the-line mattress from Hästens, naturally considered the Rolls Royce of mattresses. In a May Instagram post, Khaled documented the delivery and unveiling of his million dollar mattress by Hästens mattress dealer Linus Adolfsson, starting off his post by typing "I feel like I'm floating" and extolling its virtues as eliminating neck and back issues for restful sleep.

An April 2025 report by Radar detailed how Elton John's fortune has been whittled away on luxurious purchases, even as his health declines in old age. His spending has placed him in the awkward position of selling a Monopoly board game based on his career for $44. He's also selling autographed limited edition sets of his new album for $32, which for a savvy investor, could one day be one of those old vinyl records worth a lot of money.

Considering all of this, it was probably a bad idea to feed a roughly $400,000-per-year habit on flowers, which, as per UPI, is information that came out during the hearing for a lawsuit where a past accountant and manager accused him of mismanaging his finances. It's difficult to make the case that someone else is entirely responsible for your poor financial state after having to admit you ran up a $418,340 florist bill in a 20-month period, as part of a $57 million spending spree.

Although no longer an item, in 2012, at the height of Brangelina, Angelina Jolie purchased Brad Pitt a $1.6 million helicopter with flying lessons. The high-value birthday gift was both an extravagance as well as practical, since the couple's French residence included a helipad and Jolie had the idea of Brad flying a helicopter from their residence to Cannes. Pitt already had a pilot's license, so the additional helicopter lessons that came as part of the package deal was just the icing on the cake.

Of course, a helicopter and lessons wouldn't begin to actually describe the cost of owning a helicopter. With Pitt as the pilot, the couple could maybe save on the average income of a helicopter pilot, but as per HeliTrader, aside from the actual cost of the helicopter, the different forms of insurance, fuel and oil, upgrades, repairs, regular maintenance, and hangar storage fees — can all raise the cost of helicopter ownership significantly. According to the New York Times, the helicopter in question may have led to the couple's divorce. In one particular instance, Jolie accused Pitt of being abusive towards her and their children while flying in the helicopter as a family, which led to her filing for divorce days later. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Back in 2012, superstar songstress Celine Dion returned to top form after canceling over 10 Las Vegas performances at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The cause of the cancellations were due to inflamed vocal chords. This experience demonstrates the importance of vocal chord health to someone who earns their living from their singing ability.

The Canadian songbird's initial three-year stint at Caesars Palace, beginning in 2002, highlighted the potential challenges of singing in the arid desert state, by requesting the hotel install a $2 million humidifier system above the performance stage. This would serve the dual purpose of protecting her voice, as well as her glowing skin. While that may seem like a lot, the singer's voice is also insured for a cool million dollars. Forbes estimates her wealth to be around $570 million in 2025, so $2 million for a humidifier system to protect her money maker is just a drop in the bucket. 

Would it be nutty for a high-net-worth individual to spend $20 million on a nut farm? Well, that's exactly what "Avatar" film director James Cameron did, according to Stuff. In 2013, the director purchased the land in Carterton, New Zealand, where a working walnut orchard also happened to be. This was in addition to another almost 25-acre property he had purchased prior to the walnut orchard in 2012. While how much he paid for the walnut orchard and second property were kept private, Cameron intended for the walnut farm to continue its operations on the land. He was also interested in expanding the orchard to a second property he purchased in 2012 in Pouinui Station, New Zealand, for $20 million. The walnut orchard, called Pinnacle Grove, is known for maintaining an environmental approach to growing and harvesting that aligns with Cameron's environmentalist outlook.

Although private jet pilots in America make a lot more than you think, it would be fair to say you won't find many as wealthy as Tom Cruise. It's easy to forget that the "Mission Impossible" franchise star and, as per Celebrity Net worth, $600 million man, was once married to actress Katie Holmes. As far as wedding gifts go, most grooms would have gone with a honeymoon in Hawaii and left it at that. But Cruise didn't get where he is playing it safe, so he leaned into his adventurous side and purchased a private jet for his new missus. The Gulfstream jet came with a price tag of $20 million.

As per Forbes, Holmes was heard saying of the jet, "It's like a bus, only quicker." Tom Cruise got his pilot's license in 1994, and allegedly used the jet to do very normal things like pick up groceries for Holmes. While it's unclear where he parked, his usage of the jet for these sort of mundane tasks earned him the ire of environmentalists and the nickname "emissions impossible." At least one of up to five private jets owned by Cruise is kitted out with a jacuzzi and screening room, which means the star could actually watch "Top Gun" — which continues to yield Hollywood-size paydays for the actor — in a jacuzzi, inside his own private jet. Cruise and Holmes divorced in 2012. 

While it's no secret that Microsoft Founder Bill Gates isn't a fan of cryptocurrency, it would be difficult to doubt his ability to generate wealth. According to Forbes, as of May 2025, Gates has a net worth of around $117.1 billion, which effectively places him in the position of being able to buy whatever he wants. In the case of Leonardo Da Vinci's "Codex Leicester" notebooks, Gates paid $30.8 million for the right to own it. Purchased at auction in 1994, the book is basically a compendium of thoughts and drawings DaVinci composed between 1506 and 1510, that Gates has been considerate enough to loan out to different museums including the Phoenix Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, and the North Carolina Museum of Art. The 72-page manuscript, written in an older form of Italian, is meant to be read from right to left, adding to its uniqueness.

The reasons for Gates' fascination with the book lies in his respect for DaVinci's curious mind, his accomplishments, and what he believes is an affinity shared with the iconic creative. Regardless, Gates' purchase is easily one of the most expensive book purchases ever and the DaVinci notebook is one of several antique books worth a fortune today. 

Sean Carter, aka Jay-Z, has amassed, according to Forbes, a $2.5 billion fortune over the course of his career in music, thanks to his investments in successful liquor brands, sports, and an impressive fine art collection. Not bad for a millionaire who made their fortune without graduating from high school. If you were to ask what more the billionaire who has it all could want, you probably wouldn't guess a horse. You would be wrong in this case.

As per EssentiallySports, Jay-Z attended the Kentucky Derby in 2014, apparently falling in love with a winning horse named "California Chrome." Considered a safe bet for a triple crown, the horse was purchased from its former owner Steve Coburn, who had both raised the horse from birth, and bred California Chrome to be a champion. While not particularly happy to sell the horse, the money offered was just too good to turn down. Of this Coburn is quoted in EssentiallySports as saying, "I hated to sell the animal, but it is hard to say no to a double nickel in millions. And it is the best thing for horse racing." By double nickel, Coburn was referring to the $55 million Jay-Z paid for California Chrome. According to America's Best Racing, California Chrome was the fourth-highest-earning North America-based racehorse in horse racing history, earning $14,752,650 over the course of his racing career. 

Forbes estimates "Star Wars" creator and director George Lucas to have a net worth of $5.4 billion. According to FAR OUT, his infamous Skywalker Ranch was built on 1,700 acres of property in the late 1970s for $100 million. Initially envisioned to be a private studio and workspace, it's since expanded to a level where neighbors began complaining about noise and light pollution. With so much investment in California, where so many homeowners have lived to experience the financial cost of wildfires in cities like Los Angeles, it makes sense that Lucas would worry about how to protect Skywalker Ranch.

As such, Lucas invested in his own private fire department, with fire trucks and about a dozen fire fighters. This actually came in handy in 2013, when a fire did break out on the ranch and was subdued by the department. Despite the complaints from neighbors, Lucas' private fire department backed up the local Marin County fire department in 2018, helping to battle wildfires in the region, and he has donated a fire engine with a market value of $90,000 to the Muir Beach Volunteer Fire Department. 

While there are reasons why Jeff Bezos keeps his base salary at Amazon low on paper, his real-time net worth, according to Forbes, has him worth $237 billion as of June 28, 2025. Forbes also ranks him the fourth-richest man in the world for the same period. Miami's Indian Creek Island is home to the ultra-wealthy, and as such, is known as "Billionaire Bunker" by the locals. Living in this ode to neo-feudalism is just one sign that you've made it to the upper class, and Bezos owns not one, but three properties on the island.

As per Architectural Digest, Bezos bought two properties on the island in 2023. He spent $68 million on one property, and $79 million on a separate property next door to that one. While you would think that was enough, He proceeded to splurge on a 12,000-square-foot mansion purchased from Switzerland-based German developer and investor Mikhail Peleg in 2025 for $105 million, placing the total cost of his real estate purchases on the island at $252 million.