Lou Pearlman: What Did the Talent Manager Do & What Happened to Him?

Lou Pearlman was once a famed talent manager who helped bring boy bands like Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC to prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s. Pearlman also founded Trans Continental Records and Trans Continental Airlines, among other businesses. However, he ultimately went down for orchestrating the longest-running Ponzi scheme in the U.S., which landed him in prison in 2008.

Now, Netflix’s explosive documentary series Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam is reexamining Lou Pearlman’s financial crimes. The three-part limited series premiered on the streaming service on July 24, 2024. It comprises interviews with Backstreet Boys singers AJ McLean and Howie Dorough, *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick, and O-Town’s Erik-Michael Estrada, among other artists.

Reportedly, Lou Pearlman was still alive when he received a 25-year sentence and died later in prison in 2016. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. Pearlman landed in jail in 2008 after he pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding.

Lou Pearlman now: What happened to him & what was his cause of death?

Now deceased fraudster and former talent manager Lou Pearlman was the mastermind behind Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC’s successes. Once at the top, he used these boy bands’ names to lure investors to invest in his other businesses. He claimed all these businesses were part of his umbrella corporation, TransContinental, reported ABC News. 

According to Esquire, Pearlman got these wealthy individuals and banks to invest in his aviation companies, including Trans Continental Airlines. But, these companies only existed on paper. He used model airplanes to feature in the brochures and continued running one of the largest insurance scams in the U.S. for years.

Then, in the later 90s, members of the Backstreet Boys started suing him. Reportedly, the successful boy band’s members only received $12,000 a year, while Lou Pearlman collected millions. They later discovered that Pearlman had signed himself as the sixth member of their band. While the Backstreet Boys financially settled with Pearlman, he continued to exploit his other bands. *NSYNC ultimately settled with him in 1999 but the lawsuits kept piling up in the early 2000s.

Esquire reported that investigators finally discovered Lou Pearlman’s longest-running Ponzi scheme in the country. An extensive investigation revealed he had been swindling more than $1 billion from investors and banks. However, Pearlman fled as soon as the FBI secured a warrant to raid his Windermere, Florida, mansion. ABC News stated that central Florida prosecutor Roger Handberg claimed, “About eight days after I opened up our investigation, Lou Pearlman fled the country.” Handberg added, “At that point, he had my total and complete attention.”

After fleeing the country, Lou Pearlman was spotted in Germany, Russia, Panama, and Brazil. However, authorities only found him in Bali, Indonesia, after a German tourist recognized him there in March 2007. The said tourist took the fugitive’s photo and forwarded it to a journalist in Florida. The image subsequently reached the FBI, which resulted in Pearlman’s arrest from his hotel within days.

The following year, the disgraced talent manager pleaded guilty to financial crimes, including bank fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy, and fraud. The fraudster received a 25-year sentence and an order to pay “$310 million in restitution.” Additionally, he had “to pay a $200 million forfeiture judgment,” reported ABC News.

In August 2016, Lou Pearlman died in prison while serving his sentence, and the cause of death was cardiac arrest. Earlier that same year, he underwent surgery to get a valve in his heart replaced. His death occurred in the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida.

While Lou Pearlman may not still be alive anymore, his Ponzi scheme remains the longest-running in U.S. history. Netflix’s Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam further details his financial crimes and schemes in detail. The three-part documentary series is now streaming on the platform.