Instagram
The "Vampire Diaries" actor said he was hospitalized four times in two years while trying to pay off the 8-figure sum.
Ian Somerhalder gave a sweet birthday tribute to his wife, Nikki Reed, after revealing she "devoted her life" to saving him from massive debt, which ultimately caused him to be hospitalized.
Taking to his Instagram on Friday, the "The Vampire Diaries" star confessed he owed an 8-figure sum to collectors due to "greed and fraud" within a company he built before the two actors became a couple.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
"I've never disclosed this publicly, but this woman worked selflessly for 2yrs to build me out of a terrible business situation I got myself into," he wrote alongside a snap of the pair. "It was awful. A true nightmare day in and day out. I had to travel the world weekly to pay for massive monthly six-figure bank notes and ended up in the hospital 4 times in 2 years."
"This woman here decided that she didn't want to see her husband ruin his body/mind/spirit and pulled up her bootstraps and got down in the trenches assembling a team to get to the negotiating table to find a way out," he continued. "She devoted her life to getting me out of that mess and it almost killed her along the way."
He credited Nikki with allowing himself to start over and create his new company, Brothers Bond Bourbon, which he called a "truly humbling experience."
Getty
Vampire Diaries Stars Paul Wesley and Matthew Davis Get Into Twitter Feud Over VP Debate
View Story"Painful as hell but as a family SHE got us through," he said. "It’s unreal. I owe her my health, my life and my sanity."
Concluding the post by wishing Nikki a happy 33rd birthday, Ian, 42, wrote, "You are a superwoman. You made it possible for me to live, build my dreams, and to start my life over. The world needs people like you."
The couple tied the knot back in April of 2015 and welcomed their daughter, Bodhi Soleil, two years later.
Instagram
