Welsh actor Michael Sheen has been hailed a "national treasure" after he paid off £1million of debt for 900 people in south Wales, using £100,000 of his own money. The mission was shown in Channel 4's Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway.
Secret planning and execution
Michael took two years to secretly plan and carry out the giveaway. He set up a financial services company to buy debt on a secondary market, using his own money to write it off. His aim was to draw attention to the unfairness of the credit system and campaign for change on behalf of the people who needed it.
Explaining how he made it happen on The One Show, Michael said: "£100,000 to buy £1million worth of debt seemed like a good deal to me. I didn't have £100,000 to throw around. So I wanted it to be effective. But when I realised I could do this, get £1million worth of people's debt and just write it off, it seemed like a good thing to do."
How the debt write-off worked
He went on to explain: "People's debt gets put into bundles. Then debt-buying companies can buy those bundles, and they can sell it on to another debt-buying company at a lower price. So even though the amount of people who owe is still the same, the people who own the debt, can sell it for less and less money. So I was able to set up a company and for £100,000 of my own money buy £1mill worth of debt, because it had come down in value, because they don't think there's as much chance to get the money back. I had no idea this happened."
He later told the Big Issue: "I have found that it carries a lot more weight, you get more done, and a lot more cooperation and collaboration if it is clear you have real skin in the game."
Impact and broader goals
He added: "And 900 people having some debts written off is a big deal for them – and certainly was a big deal for me. But it is a drop in the ocean, really. We want to put the focus on change that could help millions of people's lives – so I was working towards positive change for as many as possible."
He went on: "But one of the things I want to make clear is that just stopping the bad guys is not enough if you don't support better alternatives. Because people will still need access to credit."
Back in 2021, Michael had described himself as a "not-for-profit actor", after selling his houses to ensure the 2019 Homeless World Cup went ahead in Cardiff. He said he wanted the money from his career to be used to fund more projects, adding: "There was something quite liberating about going, alright, I'll put large amounts of money into this or that, because I'll be able to earn it back again." Michael went on: "I've essentially turned myself into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor."
