Holding Accountants Accountable

At any given time that popular musical artist, Rihanna, is in the news for filing lawsuits, it is normally against some sort of abusive ex-boyfriend (i.e. Chris Brown or Drake).  In this case, however, she is suing the people who deal most closely with her finances -- Her accountants.

She has recently filed a lawsuit against her former accountants, Berdon LLP, for millions of dollars, alleging mismanagement of her money.

When she first started out, Rihanna was a 16-year-old from Barbados, who quickly became extremely rich and famous. With all of this wealth, at such a young age, and from a foreign country, she clearly needed help managing her money.  Who better for the job than accountants?

Hiring accountants means that they now have a duty of care to you (and more importantly, your funds).  You trust them to monitor your finances diligently.

In Rihanna's case, her job was to sing and make the money, and their job was to advise her on what to spend her money on, and what not to.

Rihanna may soon be under investigation by the IRS due to the amount of money that she has lost.

Although there are many famous people who quickly lose their wealth due to carelessly spending and overspending, she was under the impression that her finances would be carefully monitored by her accountants.

Part of the reason she hired them was to ensure that she would not be one of the stars that loses millions within only a few years.


The most recent statistics from Entertainment Weekly reveal that Rihanna's accountants' commission was around 23%, while the singer only received about 6% of her total earnings.  Something just doesn't seem right here, given these numbers.

(Sorry about the cheesy graphic... I had to.)

Yes, Rihanna had recently bought a ridiculously expensive home, along with many other nice, overpriced things, by her own choice.

However, her accountants receive commission on each purchase that she makes; it is their job to advise her on whether or not to make these purchases.

Because of their failure to manage her money correctly, it looks as though they may be having to compensate Rihanna for the losses they have caused her.