Marlon Brando’s Oscar later resurfaced when Jho Low, a Malaysian financier, bought the statue from a movie memorabilia dealer for $600,000 (via The New York Times). Low was known for buying elaborate, expensive gifts to give to celebrities, and Brando’s Oscar was no exception. He ultimately gave the Oscar to actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Notably, Low helped establish Red Granite Pictures, which provided the funding needed for DiCaprio to make the 2013 film “Wolf of Wall Street” directed by Martin Scorsese.
Brando’s Oscar wasn’t even the most expensive present that DiCaprio received from Low. According to the book “Billion Dollar Whale,” Low gifted DiCaprio with a painting by Pablo Picasso valued at $3.3 million and a collage by Jean-Michel Basquiat valued at $9.2 million (via The Hollywood Reporter). What DiCaprio didn’t know about these lavish presents was that Low paid for them with stolen funds. Low had taken money from an investment fund belonging to the Malaysian government to support his spending habits and Red Granite Pictures, and he was eventually investigated for the misuse of funds.
In 2017, DiCaprio surrendered Brando’s Oscar to the U.S. Department of Justice, which was looking at possible money laundering activities of Red Granite Pictures (via People). In a statement from DiCaprio’s representative, the actor returned artwork and Brando’s Oscar, “which was given to Mr. DiCaprio as a set gift by Red Granite to thank him for his work on ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street.'”
