Originally Posted by
chgoeditor
3. Even a lot of celebs--particularly those who are hot but have only starred in a couple movies--don't have that much money when it comes down to it. Once you've paid your agent, manager, assistant, etc., you're not banking as much as people might expect on an annual basis.
Related to this is the fact that many celebs never "see" their money - everything is handled by their business managers. Often, a lot of financial decisions are ceded to the manager, including travel arrangements. If the travel is for studio business and the celeb is being provided business or First travel, why pay to fly privately? For every cash-guzzling blowhard like a P. Hilton or L. Lohan, there are many more celebs who are prodent with their spending (or at least hire someone to be prudent for them).
(This is also why you see these "celebutards" hosting Vegas parties, etc - the arrangements are often for cash or other direct consideration and often bypass the managers).
Mr. Depp was mentioned, and he has implied in interviews before that he treasures (pun) his off-tine with his family - it's not difficult to understand that he uses studio-provided travel when flying to and from filming locations or for press junkets, but uses private/charter to maximize family time on his yachts and private island, etc.