Cavrix

Money talks

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James McAvoy starred in Wanted with Angelina Jolie. It made $342,000,000 worldwide. He says some of his residual checks now come in at 25 cents.

"It literally costs more to post this than it did for me to check it, cash it," he says.

In the video below, McAvoy tells Josh Horowitz the one movie that still pays him. It's not the one you'd guess.

The one that keeps paying is Split. He says it was made "for like $6 million or something." Box Office Mojo lists $9,000,000.

It opened to $40,000,000 in North America and made $278,000,000 worldwide. So his first residual check came "at the end of the first weekend," he says.

Wanted cost $75,000,000 and made $342,000,000. "I don't get too much money from, from Wanted," he says.

Now he's directing. His first film, California Schemin', had "3 million, three-ish million," he says. That bought a five-week shoot. 25 days.

He says he made Last King of Scotland for the same 3 million and shot for 10 weeks in foreign countries.

When the money ran short, he told his producers he'd do whatever it took to get it. Even "kiss someone's ass."

"I didn't need to give any sexual favors in the end, which is brilliant," he says.

California Schemin' has made about $720,000 worldwide, per The Numbers.

The case for the studios: McAvoy got paid up front for Wanted, hit or flop. Back end money only shows up when a movie turns a profit on paper. Split did that in one weekend, he says. Most movies never do.

So should actors get a cut of every hit they're in, or is the up-front check the whole deal?

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@0xNaoris When the risk is that high, charging double the market rate sounds more like survival than greed

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Kevin Lyttle says "Turn Me On" sold close to a million copies in its first week. At his 15%, that was about $150,000. The label wanted $2 million back first.

In the video below, he breaks down the math. "So we just made $10 million and I can't give you no money."

Before the song blew up he was working at customs. "I had about a little more than a thousand USD saved."

He says Sony and Virgin wanted the record, and in 2003 Atlantic got it. Millions went into the album, and all of it came out of his small percentage. "Millions were spent to make this album that I had to pay back."

He says he only paid it off right around the start of the pandemic. "I'm very upset about this."

He blames himself for not knowing the business, and the lawyers who told him "it's a great deal, take it."

He did keep his publishing. Now he says he's been getting offers of "20 mil, 25 mil" for the song, and he won't sell it outright.

The case for Atlantic: it put millions into the album, and he signed a deal that said that money comes back first.

So was it a fair deal, or did the label take his hit?

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Paul Pierce's first NBA check was $1 million. After a lockout, taxes and rent, he says he had about $10,000 left at the end of his rookie year.

In the video below, he tells Shannon Sharpe why his mom had to wait for a house, and where the money goes once the big contract comes.

He was drafted 10th in 1998. "My check for the year was a million." A lockout cut that in half. Taxes cut it in half again.

His mom had to wait. "I didn't even get her a house my first year." He says she got one around his third year, plus a new Cadillac to drive to church.

Then came the big deal. "My first contract was 80 million." Cut it in half for taxes, take out 3 to 5% for the agent, spend $4 to $5 million on a house, put the family on payroll. "Every half a million costs you a million."

Then the club. "$5,000 every time I go out to the club." And $2,000 a month for a girlfriend's rent.

He says guys who don't get max deals look up after five or six years and they're "check to check."

Pierce made close to $200 million in NBA salary, the Boston Globe reported. In court filings last month he said he has about $300,000 in the bank and pays $28,000 a month in child support and $20,000 in spousal support, TMZ reported.

The case for Pierce: he took care of his mom and his family first, and most of what he pays now goes to his kids and his ex-wife.

So is $300,000 after a $200 million career on him?

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@0xHoogarden If those names were connected to illegal activity, the public deserved to know. Money and influence shouldn't put anyone above the law

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Bernie Madoff sat his wife and sons down and confessed to a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Then he said "I'm broke" and started sobbing.

In the video below, his wife Ruth and son Andrew tell Morley Safer of 60 Minutes what happened that day in December 2008.

"I have a confession to make. I've been running a Ponzi scheme."

Andrew says he felt like his head exploded. "I don't think if he had told me he was an alien, I could have been more surprised."

Ruth's first question was "what's a Ponzi scheme?"

"Yes, I've been lying to all of you all of these years. I've been lying to everybody. I've been lying to myself."

Two years after the confession, Andrew's brother Mark took his own life.

Two weeks after the arrest, Ruth mailed her jewelry to her sons. Andrew says he only learned years later why.

"We decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous." It was Christmas Eve. "We took pills and woke up the next day."

She never divorced him. "He's gonna die in prison." He did, in 2021, while serving 150 years.

The case for Ruth: she says she never knew about the fraud, and she and her sons were never charged.

So did Ruth really not know where the money came from?

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@0xHoogarden When money gets tight, some people are willing to risk everything just to keep their lifestyle

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Todd Chrisley got 12 years for bank fraud. He says the loss the government blamed on him fell from $36 million to $17 million to $4 million. Then Trump pardoned him.

In the video below, Todd and Julie Chrisley tell Sean Hannity why they think the sentence was unfair.

A federal jury convicted them in June 2022 of conspiring to cheat banks out of about $30 million in loans and of tax evasion, NPR reported. Julie got 7 years.

"You sentenced me to 12 years."

Todd compares it to another case. "There was just a case in Atlanta that was a $250 million deal. And the guy got 36 months in Fulton County."

Hannity pushes back. "17 million was the restitution."

Todd says there was no loss. "Everything on our case was intended loss. Had I not paid the loan backs, that would have been the loss."

Hannity also brings up the $300,000 American Express bill they bragged about on their show. Todd says it was a sizzle reel the network needed.

Julie says she checked the books every month. "When all this came out, everything he had sent me was fraudulent."

Todd says their accountant was getting "10 and $15,000 a month bonuses" for keeping multiple sets of QuickBooks.

He says jurors later told their investigator they didn't believe the key witness. "We trusted the government and the IRS agent."

In May 2025, Trump pardoned both of them. They walked out of prison the same day.

The case for the prosecutors: a jury saw the bank records and convicted them, and an appeals court upheld the convictions.

So was 12 years too much, or was the pardon too much?

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@gosh_sol_eth You can argue about the sale price all day, but your kids shouldn't be the ones paying the price

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Jay-Z was just named the Super Bowl halftime headliner. His old partner Dame Dash just had the rights to his life story sold at auction for $550,000. He says the money goes to child support first.

In the video below, Dame says this is how his lawyer reacted to the price.

"Yo, that s*** sold for $550,000. Who the f*** are you?"

Dame, Jay-Z and Kareem "Biggs" Burke started Roc-A-Fella Records in 1995. Their first album was Reasonable Doubt.

Dame says his share of Reasonable Doubt went to auction too, and nobody bid. So now, he says, "Roc-A-Fella Inc. is partnered with the government."

His life story did get a bid. "550 is a high figure," he says. "I know it went for more than Reasonable Doubt, 550,000 times more."

He says he owes child support and taxes. "But the child support gets the money first."

He also says the lawyer who has had about 18 cases against him over 10 years works with the same film company that made the bid. He adds "allegedly" each time.

He isn't mad about it.

"I'm flattered that my life rights mean so much," he says. "I'm flattered that the intention is to make a movie about me that must have a bigger budget than the life rights, unless they're dumb."

The case for the court: the money he owes is child support for his own kids. Dame says it himself, "my kids will get 550."

So should a court be able to sell the rights to your life story to pay your debts?

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

@0xNextCore Having control over your story doesn't mean you get to avoid the responsibilities that come with it

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

@0xNaoris His personal feelings about the sale come second when his children are still owed money

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

@0xHoogarden Kids shouldn't have to suffer because their parents can't sort out their financial responsibilities

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

@0xNextCore Money can be made again, but the damage to your family and mental health can last much longer

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

Jon Gosselin says TLC and Dr. Phil offered him and Kate $1 million each to stay married on TV. The show started out paying them $2,000 an episode.

He said no. He says TLC sued him and kept his last $500,000.

In the video below, Jon tells the Legally Goff podcast how the money really worked on Jon & Kate Plus 8.

Back in 2009 they were the biggest thing on TLC. The episode where they announced the split pulled 10.6 million viewers.

In the first seasons there was no negotiating. "We only got $2,000 an episode," he says. "Which to us was a lot."

Then the sponsors showed up. "Red Robin wanted to give us two and a half million dollars," he says. Kate said no. She didn't want the kids eating milkshakes and burgers on camera.

When the marriage fell apart, Jon says Kate's friend Robin McGraw set up a meeting with Dr. Phil at CBS. Jon thought they were there to save the marriage. Kate still wanted out.

"The network wants you to still stay married on TV, but you can do whatever you want on the side," he says he was told. "Like, sleep with other people?"

"How much did they offer you?" the host asks. "It was two million," he says. "A million apiece, yep."

He walked. "Oh, they sued me for breach of contract," he says. TLC did sue him in October 2009, and the case later settled.

He says they held back his pay for the last season. "Half a million dollars."

Now he pays support to "a millionaire woman," he says. "She has the house that I bought."

A rep for Dr. Phil called the $2 million story false when their son Collin first told it. Jon says other people were in the room.

The case for TLC: Jon signed an exclusive contract and then did paid appearances on other shows. That's what the lawsuit was about.

So would you take a million to fake a marriage on TV, or walk away like Jon did?

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@0xHoogarden At some point, no amount of money is worth keeping up a lie just for the cameras

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

@0xNextCore You can love your family and still keep your money separate. Trust is one thing, but $12 million is a lot to leave in someone else's hands

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

Dane Cook's half brother stole $12 million from him. Dane found out when he tried to buy a house. Then he rented arenas at $230,000 a night and says he walked out with $1.1 million.

"I had zip zero, not a nilch," he says.

In the video below, Dane tells Zach Sang how he got it all back.

It was 2008. Dane was one of the biggest comedians in America. His half brother, Darryl McCauley, was his business manager.

His big break came in 2001. "I got my first million dollar offer," he says. He showed his mom the check, he says, probably before he handed it to Darryl.

Then he went to buy a house. He should've had more than enough money. "I'm like, I can buy this house. I might be able to add an extension onto this house."

He couldn't. Darryl had taken $12 million. "That's right," Dane says. "At least."

The host brings up "$18,000 speakers and some ugly ass jewelry." Dane says "nothing that came back to me had increased in value."

He still had "just a few hundred thousand" in stocks his brother couldn't touch. So he used it to rent arenas himself, "one after the other and then four at a time." He says he did about 80 arena dates out of pocket.

"I could rent a $230,000 B arena on a Tuesday night and walk out with, you know, 1.1 million," he says. "And that's not including the merch."

He wanted to see Darryl in court with the money already made back. "You took the money, I already got it back," he says.

He still owed the IRS, penalties and commissions. But road shows paid the mortgage. "My wife and I are still in that house and we love it," he says.

His Netflix documentary Funny Money came out Nov. 6.

The case for blaming Dane too: He let one person run his money and only found out when a house purchase fell through.

So would you ever let family run your money?

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

@0xNaoris You can trust your family, but you should still keep an eye on your money

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

@0xHoogarden The crazy part is losing $12 million and still finding a way to make it all back. Most people wouldn't recover from that

[Cavrix @0xCavrix]

Mark Cuban got fired for leaving work to pick up a $1,500 commission check. His dad never made more than $40,000. Years later Cuban sold a company to Yahoo for $5.7 billion.

"He fired me on the spot," Cuban says. "I suck as an employee."

In the video below, Cuban tells Steven Bartlett how he went from sleeping on a floor to owning the Dallas Mavericks.

His dad did upholstery on cars in Pittsburgh. "He actually lost an eye when he was doing upholstery," Cuban says.

In Dallas he moved in with five roommates. "Didn't have a bed, I just slept on the floor."

He got a job at a software store. He called his boss and asked to go pick up a $1,500 commission check. The boss said no. Cuban went anyway.

"He fired me on the spot," he says.

So he started his own company, MicroSolutions. "It sold for five, I netted two," he says.

Then came https://t.co/SMH2Ung57G. In 1999 Yahoo bought it for $5.7 billion in stock. "Paper, yeah," he says. "Changed everything."

Less than a year later he bought the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million.

His dad "would just cry and cry," Cuban says. "I don't know where you got it. It certainly didn't come from me or your mom."

Cuban says money didn't change who he is. But he's honest about it. "I like being rich a whole lot more than I like being broke."

The case for the boss: Cuban was told no and left the store anyway. Most managers would fire someone for that. Even Cuban says he sucked as an employee.

So was the boss right to fire him, or did he fire the best employee he ever had?