You might know actor Ian Somerhalder for his portrayal of snarky Salvatore brother Damon on The Vampire Diaries or his character Boone on Lost. Now, he's even created a bourbon brand called Brother's Bond Bourbon with co-star Paul Wesley, which has rocketed off shelves. But Brother's Bond wasn't his first business investment, and he recently revealed a failed business venture that almost left him bankrupt. 

Read on to find out what we know about Ian Somerhalder's failed business.

Ian Somerhalder revealed his failed business left him in an "eight figure hole."

In an Instagram post on May 21, 2021, Ian wished his wife and fellow vampire actress Nikki Reed (who you might remember as Rosalie Hale from the Twilight franchise) a belated happy birthday. His super-sweet caption reads, "This mama. This human. 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."

Ian revealed that before they got together, he built a company during his time on The Vampire Diaries from 2009 to 2017. He explained, "I invested heavily, I made huge personal guarantees to banks. However due to greed and fraud within that company and fraudulent activities from our biggest customer, not to mention the temporary collapse of the oil and gas industry — I was left in an EIGHT- FIGURE hole."

While he doesn't say what the business was or who his associates were, Ian expressed that he did try desperately to pay off his debts with "massive monthly six-figure bank notes" by overworking himself. But the true heroine of that time was Nikki, and Ian could not overstate how grateful he was for her help when he desperately needed it.

"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. She devoted her life to getting me out of that mess and it almost killed her along the way. I am where I am BECAUSE of this woman," Ian concluded his statement with even more celebration and praise for Nikki.

This isn't the first time Ian has gushed about his wife on Instagram and he typically spends Nikki's birthday or their anniversary penning beautifully crafted love letters to her via the internet. It sounds like, despite the failure and extremely perilous first business, Ian has decided to try again in a more successful endeavor with Brother's Bond Bourbon.

Ian successfully launched his own bourbon brand with 'Vampire Diaries' co-star Paul Wesley.

During the slight renaissance that The Vampire Diaries experienced in 2021, fans of the show were delighted to hear that Ian and his co-star Paul were creating a bourbon brand inspired by their characters on the show. 

On The Vampire Diaries, Stefan and Damon were always drinking bourbon (the actors, unfortunately, had to do endless takes with caffeinated iced tea), and it inspired a lifelong love of the drink in Ian and Paul.

Their brand, titled Brother's Bond Bourbon, is currently sold out in most places. The official website of the bourbon has updates and details on where to purchase your bottle on the next restock. Congratulations to all the former vampires involved in new business ventures — hopefully, they're significantly less bloody.