A London High Court Judge on Wednesday refused to reinstate the Rocket Man's $19.5 million claim against his former money managers, denying Elton the right to appeal an April decision in which his lawsuit was dismissed.
Last year, John sued his old accounting firm, Pricewaterhousecoopers, and ex-manager, Andrew Haydon, for negligence after they allegedly misappropriated his multimillion-dollar fortune and nearly forced him into bankruptcy.
On Wednesday, Judge Andrew Ferris rejected the 54-year-old singer's bid to reopen the case against the multinational accounting firm, saying he doubted an appeal "would have any real prospect of success." The ruling, however, did not apply to Haydon, the former director of John's longtime management company, John Reid Enterprises.
While the ruling deals a harsh blow to John's attempt to recoup millions of dollars lost to touring expenses, the singer's still standing. His lawyers can still file a petition to London's Court of Appeals.
During the court hearings earlier this year, the flamboyant popster's "lavish lifestyle" seemed to be on trial, as he admitted to spending almost $56 million for personal items over a 20-month period between 1996 and 1997.
John confessed to ringing up debts in excess $2 million a month, despite financial advisers warning him to slow down. In addition to purchasing multimillion-dollar spreads in London, Atlanta and even a villa in Nice, John went on shopping sprees for designer duds, classic cars, jewels and CDs. The singer's penchant for pricey petals cost him a whopping $205,774 in flower bills alone.
With Pricewaterhousecoopers painting John as a poor businessman who was careless with his wealth, and John copping to as much during his time on the stand, the judge ultimately dismissed the singer's claim.
So Elton did what any cash-poor jet-setter would do--sell off a garage-full of high-ticket cars. At a Christie's auction this week in London, 20 of John's classic cars went on the block, including three Ferraris, four Aston Martins and nine Bentleys. A 1993 Jaguar XJ220 alone fetched $331,350 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer netted a total of $2.8 million for his former rides.
After the auction, John (a passionate collector who reportedly kept eight cars for himself) released a statement saying how elated he was with the sales.
"When the bidding kept going up and up way above the estimates, I was both thrilled and surprised," said John. "There's obviously a lot of money to be made from second-hand cars."
Too bad there's no market for used flowers.