Gambling, Lies, and Millions Stolen from Celebrities

What happens when the drive to succeed masks deep emotional
wounds and addiction? In this episode, Jonathan Schwartz shares a
powerful and painfully honest account of how his life
unraveled. 


Once one of Hollywood’s most trusted financial advisors, Jonathan
worked with icons like Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, and Gwyneth
Paltrow. On the surface, he had it all. But underneath the
success was a secret struggle with gambling and drug addiction
that led him to steal millions from the very clients who trusted
him most. 


His fall from grace was dramatic and public, ending in a prison
sentence and the loss of everything he had built. But that wasn’t
the end of his story. Today, Jonathan is sober and rebuilding his
life with purpose. As Program Director at Altus Rehab, he now
helps others find their own way out of addiction and shame. His
story is raw, real, and full of hard-earned wisdom for anyone who
has ever felt like they couldn’t ask for help.
Show Notes:

[01:30] Jonathan is a different person from who he was. He
grew up in Upstate New York and his father left when he was four.
His mom had a lot of stress and took it out on him which created
childhood trauma.

[03:34] Accounting was the subject that he was good at.

[05:02] Eventually, his cousin gave him a job working in Los
Angeles for celebrities.

[06:33] In 2004, he became a partner in GSO business
management. He got a break when Linkin Park was looking for
someone in business management. Their success opened up the
floodgates.

[08:37] He began getting more and more A-list clients.

[09:04] In 2010, he became addicted to gambling.

[10:01] This eventually led to embezzlement from his
celebrity clients. He placed the bet with this bookie everyday
for 6 years.

[13:48] He ended up embezzling about 7 million dollars.

[14:12] When he stopped gambling he had suicidal ideation.

[17:05] He always intended to pay the money back.

[19:37] Jonathan shares a time when the bank wanted to call
Alanis. 

[21:03] There was a point when his partners started to notice
something wasn't right.

[22:04] In 2015 he was fired by Alanis, but he continued to
give his attention to his A-list clients.

[24:42] He didn't want to expose anyone to the fact that he
was committing crime. He never told a soul.

[25:07] The dark secret was eating him inside, and he also
had to deal with his unresolved trauma.

[27:12] How Jonathan had to come clean with his wife, because
he was scheduled for a lie detector test.

[28:48] After failing the test, he was facing 23 years in
prison. He negotiated a four to six year plea agreement.

[31:14] He ended up being released early because of COVID.

[32:11] He struggled to get a job and ended up going back to
school, and now he's a marriage and family therapist with an
emphasis on addiction and trauma.

[34:00] In prison he had the opportunity to reflect on his
bad decisions and read a lot of books.

[36:33] He's proud to be sober and a nerd. His trauma is
resolved, and he gets to help people in treatment not make the
same mistakes that he made.

[41:34] Celebrities today need to understand not to trust
their business manager so quickly and to make sure that they're
proactive in their financial affairs and that they're asking for
source documents.

[42:11] Audit your business manager with some level of
frequency.

[48:43] Don't go out and spend all your money. Treat your
first dollars as your last dollars.

[50:56] Jonathan has a book coming out in about 12 months.



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Gamblers Anonymous