Juan Martín del Potro endorsements and career earnings: Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player who has a net worth of $9 million. Juan Martín del Potro was bornin September 23, 1988 in Tandil, Argentina. His father was a semi-professional rugby player turned veterinarian. His mother is a school teacher. He began playing tennis at an early age and quickly rose the ranks in his home country. In 2002 as a junior he won the Orange Bowl 14s title. His highest rank as a junior is #3, which he achieved in January 2005. He turned pro later that year. Juan's biggest early achievement was winning the 2009 US Open, defeating Rafael Nadal in the semis and Roger Federer (who was a 5-time defending champ) in the final. He had to withdraw from tournaments in 2010 due to a wrist injury. He was out for a year then had to take another absence after injuring the OTHER wrist. He was out this time until 2016. He came back with a vengeance and earned a career-high #3 ranking in August 2018. In September 2018 he reached the US Open finals against Novak Djokovic. To date, Juan Martín del Potro has earned $22.5 million in career earnings on the court. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Read more: Juan Martín del Potro Net Worth

Dave Brock net worth: Dave Brock is an English singer, songwriter, and musician who has a net worth of $1 million. Dave Brock was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England in August 1941. He was one of the founding members of the band Hawkwind. He plays guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, and harmonica. Hawkwind formed in 1969 and Brock is the only remaining original member. The band has released 30 studio albums starting in 1970. Their album Warrior on the Edge of Time was released in 1975 and was their highest charting album in the UK, reaching #13. They are known for being one of the earliest space rock groups and their best known single is "Silver Machine" which reached #3 in the UK. Dave Brock has released several solo albums starting with Earthed to the Ground in 1984 and including The Agents of Chaos in 1987, Strange Trips & Pipe Dreams in 1995, Spacebrock in 2000, Memos and Demos in 2001, The Brock/Calvert Project in 2007, Looking for Love in the Lost Land of Dreams in 2012, and Brockworld in 2015.

Read more: Dave Brock Net Worth

David Clayton-Thomas net worth: David Clayton-Thomas is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter who has a net worth of $3 million. David Clayton-Thomas was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom in September 1941. He is best known for being the lead vocalist of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. The band formed in 1967 and Clayton-Thomas was the front man and guitarist from 1968 to 1972, 1974 to 1981, and 1984 to 2004. Blood, Sweat & Tears released their debut studio album Child Is Father to the Man in 1968 and their self-titled album was released in 1968 and reached #1 in the US where it was 4x multi-platinum. Their album Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 was released in 1970 and also reached #1 in the US. They released their 11^th album in 1980. The band had a #1 hit on the US Adult Contemporary chart with the single "Spinning Wheel" which also reached #2 in the US as did the singles "You've Made Me So Very Happy" and "And When I Die". David Clayton-Thomas has released several solo albums and is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame.

Read more: David Clayton-Thomas Net Worth

Will Downing net worth: Will Downing is an American singer and songwriter who has a net worth of $1.5 million. Will Downing was born in Brooklyn, New York in November 1963. He released his self-titled debut studio album in 1988 which reached #20 in the UK. Will Downing released the album Come Together as One in 1989 and his album A Dream Fulfilled was released in 1991 and reached #22 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart. He released the album Love's the Place to Be in 1993 and his album Moods was released in 1995 and reached #3 on the jazz chart. His album Invitation Only was released in 1997 and his album Pleasures of the Night with Gerald Albright reached #1 on the jazz chart in 1998. Downing released the album All the Man You Need in 2000 and his albums Sensual Journey in 2002 and Emotions in 2003 both reached #2 on the jazz charts. He has also released several other albums and his album After Tonight was released in 2007 and reached #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Read more: Will Downing Net Worth

Sean Conlon net worth: Sean Conlon is an Irish American businessman, entrepreneur, investor, and television personality who has a net worth of $50 million. Sean Conlon grew up in Rathangan, County Kildare, Ireland and moved to Chicago, Illinois. He serves as the chairman and founder for Conlon & Co as well as CONLON Commercial, Conlon Capital, and CONLON/Christie's International Real Estate. He is best known for being a co-host of the reality television series The Deed on CNBC which debuted in 2017. He worked for Lehman Brothers in London and then joined Koenig & Strey in 1993 where he was one of the top residential real estate agents in the United States setting records of more than $150 million per year. He formed Sussex & Reilly in 2000 and the firm became very successful. CONLON became affiliated with Christie's International Real Estate in 2013 and specializes in high end properties around the world.

Read more: Sean Conlon Net Worth

Michael Rapino net worth and salary: Michael Rapino is an American businessman who has a net worth of $120 million. Michael Rapino is best known for being the Chief Executive Officer and President of Live National Entertainment, Inc. which is a top production company for live concerts and shows. From 2004 to 2005 he served as the CEO and President of Global Music for Clear Channel Music Group, Inc. He has worked for Live Nation in a number of capacities including CEO and President of their International Music division, Executive in Marketing services, and as a Director. Michael Rapino worked at Labatt's Breweries of Canada in marketing and entertainment for 10 years. He also worked at Sirius XM Holdings Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment LLC after earning his degree from Lakehead University in 1989. Live Nation was founded by Robert Sillerman in 1996 and in 2017 had a revenue of more than $10 billion and an operating income of more than $90 million. In 2017, Michael Rapino earned over $70 million in total compensation. He has been married to actress Jolene Blalock since 2003. They met after Michael hired her to appear in a commercial. Jolene actually proposed to Michael and today they have three children together.

Read more: Michael Rapino Net Worth

Jeff Bezos is a controversial guy these days, getting heat on a regular basis from everyone from President Trump to Senator Bernie Sanders, who recently introduced the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (or "Stop BEZOS Act") aimed specifically at the employee payment practices of Bezos and other big industrialists. And if there's one good way to buy a little political good will in the USA, it's a gift to the troops, and Bezos has made a fairly large one in the form of a $10 million donation to the With Honor Fund.

TMZ reports that Bezos, along with his wife Mackenzie, made the gift to the nonpartisan super PAC which lends financial and political support to veterans running for Congress. So far, the group has endorsed a total of 33 candidates for office, 19 Democrats and 14 Republicans, all of whom are supposed to "take a down-the-middle approach to politics."

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The New York Times says that the donation is the first major political gift of Bezos' career, outside of a $2.5 million donation to support a referendum legalizing same-sex marriages in Washington State in 2012. Other than that, most of his other political donations have been directly linked to the two companies he owns, online retailer Amazon or space exploration outfit Blue Origin, plus some minor gifts to both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in DC.

Bezos' donation to the With Honor Fund is also reported to be his first major contribution to a cause directly connected with US military vets, which has also been popular with his parents and other Amazon executives since it was established last year. His parents have given it a reported $2 million to the super PAC, while Amazon's Jeff Wilke has given $50,000.

The With Honor Fund has collected a sum total of $7 million as of late August, so Bezos' $10 million gift is an extremely significant one on their end. It is not, however, the biggest donation made by Bezos this year so far. That would be the $33 million towards college scholarships for undocumented immigrants who've graduated high school in the US he gave earlier this year. And in 2016, Bezos pledged to take on 25,000 military veterans and spouses as employees by 2021. In November of last year, Amazon announced that with 17,500 veterans and military spouses under their employ they were "on track to far exceed" that pledge.

Read more: Jeff Bezos Donates $10 Million To With Honor Fund, Supporting Vets Running For Office

Recently, news broke that Asia Argento, one of the loudest voices in the #MeToo movement, was involved in a cover-up and pay off regarding her alleged sexual misconduct with a then 17-year-old named Jimmy Bennett.  She has categorically denied having sex with Bennett in 2013. She did not deny the payoff, but has said that the $380,000 was designed to help the troubled actor and musician and get him to leave her and her late boyfriend Anthony Bourdain alone. It appears that Argento and Bourdain orchestrated a cover-up. This situation has predictably devolved into a he said/she said, blame-the-dead-guy mess. Not helping Argento's case are a series of text messages between her and Bourdain. It was also revealed that Argento has decided not to pay off the balance of the $380,000 to Bennett per directions Bourdain gave her before his death. It is basically a hot mess, people.

Just to recap, Asia Argento gave a speech at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival during which she spoke out about her assault at the hands of producer Harvey Weinstein. Since she came out, more than 80 women have come out to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct. He is currently facing the legal consequences of his actions. Argento also told The New Yorker that she was raped by Weinstein in 1997 at the Cannes Film Festival, when she was 21.

LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

Jimmy Bennett is an actor and rock musician who has accused Argento of assaulting him. Bennett and Argento met when he was six years old. He appeared in the 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful About All Things, which Argento co-wrote, directed and starred in. Bennett was seven years old at the time. The film is about the grim relationship between a drug addicted prostitute and her son. Argento played the prostitute and Bennett played her son.

On May 9, 2013, Argento and Bennett met for a reunion in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, California. Earlier that day she posted on Instagram, "Waiting for my long lost son my love @jimmybennett in trepidation #marinadelrey smoking cigarettes like there was no next week. Bennett commented on the photo "I'm almost there."

Bennett arrived at Argento's hotel room with a family member. According to the documents, Argento asked the family member to leave so she could be alone with him. She then gave Bennett an alcoholic drink and showed him a number of notes she'd written to him on the hotel's stationary. She kissed him, pushed him onto the bed, took his pants off and performed oral sex. She then climbed on top of him and had sex.

Argento was 37. Bennett was 17. The age of consent in California is 18. It should be mentioned that Argento is Italian and lives in Italy and the age of consent there is 14. It doesn't make it less gross, but it is a fact. Afterward, she took a number of photos of the two of them together. The two had lunch. Afterwards, Bennett headed home to Orange County, California, where he lived with his parents. After Bennett left the hotel, he began to feel "extremely confused, mortified, and disgusted," according to the documents that The New York Times received in an encrypted email. Bennett says the trauma this incident caused affected his ability to work and as a result, his income dropped significantly.

Sometime around November 2017, Argento received a notice of an intent to sue from Bennett's attorney. He initially asked for $3.5 million in damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, lost wages, assault and battery. Bennet reportedly made $2.7 million in the five years before the 2013 incident with Argento. After their meeting, his income dropped to $60,000 a year, which he attributes to the fallout and emotional trauma that the sexual encounter with Argento caused. She said that Bennett was litigious and was making ridiculously exorbitant money demands. Argento and Bourdain just didn't want any more intrusions in their life.

Argento started texting her boyfriend Anthony Bourdain about the pending allegations against her. They texted back and forth about the situation, which we will get to in a minute. Argento and Bourdain also gave Bennett a nickname. They referred to him as "donkey."

In the undated but verified text messages between Bourdain and Argento, the late Parts Unknown host reassured his Italian girlfriend that a payment to Bennett was "no admission of anything, no attempt to buy a cover up, simply an offer to help an obviously tortured soul whose desperate and trying to jack you for money." In a follow up text, Bourdain, who committed suicide in June, added "you just tell him to f**k himself. Either way, I am with you."

Bourdain continued to text Argento about Bennett and the allegations against Argento. In one, he appeared to be responding to Argento's concerns about how she felt disingenuous for paying what basically amounts to hush money to her accuser when she was so incredibly vocal and involved in bringing producer Harvey Weinstein down for his sexual misconduct. Bourdain's text to Argento said, "You are not buying silence. Only freedom from inconvenience. And to help a poor twisted goof get his life together."

Argento responded to Bourdain's text about not buying silence by writing, "I will never buy his silence for something that isn't true since I am also broke. I don't fear him. I am no Puritan, google my a**."

However, Argento then seemed to contradict herself in the texts with Bourdain. In one, she wrote, "It wasn't raped (sic) but I was frozen. He was on top of me. After, he told me I had been his sexual fantasy since was 12."

Jimmy Bennett's attorney said that Bennett only decided to file the notice of his intent to sue Argento after he got fed up with her stance in the #MeToo movement and her pious attitude towards Harvey Weinstein.

The agreement between Argento and Bennett laid out a plan to pay him $380,000 over the course of 18 months. The initial payment of $200,000 was made in April. In a letter dated April 2018, Argento's attorney laid out the details of the deal and the schedule of payments. The agreement does not prevent Argento or Bennett from discussing it. California law does not allow non-disclosureagreements in civil contracts that involve the types of allegations Bennett made against Argento.

Argento has admitted to agreeing to pay Bennett $380,000. But she denies ever having any sexual relationship with him. She released a statement saying, "I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false," she wrote. "I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett."

On September 5^th, Argento's new attorney Mark Jay Heller release a statement to Page Six saying that Argento will not pay the rest of the hush money per the late Anthony Bourdain's wishes. According to the statement, Bennett has been paid about $250,000 of the $380,000. Heller told TMZ that Bennett "sexually attacked" Argento, not the other way around.

The statement reads in part:

"Asia's courage to originally make the accusations against Harvey Weinstein has not waned…Phase Two of the #metoo movement dictates that the voice of a victim, even one with a history that may be in question, should be heard and she is hopeful that in the Court of Public Opinion it will ultimately be determined that Asia never initiated an inappropriate sexual contact with a minor, but rather she was attacked by Bennett and might even be suffering the fallback of a smear campaign by those already accused who may have a vested interest in their accusers being denied credibility."

There is a popular school of thought that the allegations against Argento by Bennett were actually initiated by Harvey Weinstein.

Read more: #MeToo Leader Asia Argento Accused of Sexually Assaulting Teenager And Paying Him Off

Let's file this one under pure silliness. Michael Moore, who leans pretty far to the left of socialism, claims that the only reason Donald Trump decided to run for president is because he was bitter over Gwen Stefani's $10 million paycheck from NBC. Moore said that Trump decided to announce his candidacy after finding out that NBC was paying Stefani that huge sum to be a coach on The Voice. At the time, Trump was negotiating his own deal with NBC regarding whether or not he would appear on The Apprentice for season 15. It was just weeks before he announced his Republican bid for the primary on June 16, 2015.

Trump had been casually talking about running for president since 1988, but he didn't really want to be president. There's no penthouse in the White House. He doesn't want to live in a primarily African American city, according to Moore.

"He was trying to pit NBC against another network, but it just went off the rails."

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

One of the very first things Trump did after announcing his candidacy was reveal how much money he made on The Apprentice. He stated that his net worth was $10 billion and that a bit less than $215 million of that came from his salary on The Apprentice. That sum would mean Donald Trump made an average of $15 million for each of the show's 14 seasons up to that point, which was more than Stefani was currently making from the network.

Of course, when he released financial disclosure statements, they revealed that he made less than $5 million on The Apprentice.

Like I said at the beginning, this story is pure silliness. It should also be noted that Moore is premiering his latest documentary Fahrenheit 11/9, which is about the results of the 2016 election, at the Toronto Film Festival this week. As the saying goes, no publicity is bad publicity.

Read more: Did Donald Trump Run For President Because Gwen Stefani Was Making More Money On The Voice Than He Was On The Apprentice?

If you're like me, you LOVE Tom Clancy books and movies. Specifically, Tom Clancy books and movies that involve his character Jack Ryan. I'd be hard-pressed to name a better movie in history than Clear and Present Danger. The book was also fantastic. Tragically, Tom Clancy died suddenly back in 2013. That's the bad news. The good news is that his name will live forever as Hollywood continues to churn out new Jack Ryan shows. The most recent example, Amazon's new series "Jack Ryan", is simply amazing. I highly encourage you to watch all 8 episodes tonight if you haven't already. As I was plowing through the series recently, a question came to mind: Who profits off Jack Ryan today? Who owns Clancy's most famous character and other intellectual property? Turns out, it's kind of an interesting story. And while we're at it, just how much money did Tom Clancy make during his lifetime off his incredible library of work?

Tom Clancy died on October 1st, 2013 at the age of 66 in Baltimore. His illness was eventually revealed to be heart related. He had suffered a major heart attack several years prior to his death and, according to one of his longtime collaborators, Tom's heart never fully recovered.

Career Beginnings

For those of you who think it's too late for you to make a fortune, keep in mind that Tom's writing career started relatively late in life. He spent the first 15 years of his adult life working for an insurance agency founded by his wife's grandfather. He wrote novels in his spare time. Tom's big break came in 1984 when he sold his first novel, The Hunt for Red October, to Naval Institute Press for $5,000. He was 38 years old.

Naval Institute Press originally wanted Tom to cut dozens of technical details in the book because they were concerned about potentially revealing classified American military secrets. In fact, there was concern that Tom wasn't the actual author. How could this lowly insurance agent know so much about Naval submarines and Russian diplomacy? Was their secretly a different author? A former spy or Navy admiral who would be forbidden to have his identity be associated with the book?

There was no secret author. The author was Tom Clancy and he refused to remove the technical details. Tom and Naval Institute Press hoped the book would sell 5000 copies. It sold 45,000 in its initial run. After President Ronald Regan praised the book, sales rocketed to 300,000. Within three years of releasing the book, Tom had earned $1.3 million in royalties. He quit the insurance job.

To date, the book has sold more than 5 million copies.

When it came time to do his next book deal in 1988, Clancy was paid $3 million for his next three novels. His 1988 book, Clear and Present Danger, sold two million copies in 1989 alone. It was the best-selling novel of the 80s.

Fast forward to 1997, and Penguin Putnam paid Clancy $50 million for the worldwide rights to his next TWO books. When TV rights and various other options were included, Tom's 1997 deal brought him $97 million.

To date, Tom Clancy has sold more than 100 million copies of his books worldwide.

His characters and stories also provided the inspiration for the Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell video game series. In fact, in 2008, the French video game company Ubisoft purchased the use of Clancy's name for an undisclosed sum, believed to be north of $100 million.

Robert Mora/Getty Images

Investments, Divorce And Jack Ryan Ownership

Tom owned an 80-acre estate in Maryland that featured a shooting range in the basement and housed an authentic WW2 tank which his first wife gave to him as a Christmas present. Clancy also owned a $16 million, 17,000 square-foot penthouse in Baltimore. He eventually expanded the estate to 535 acres.

In 1993, Tom spent $42 million to buy a 24% stake in the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1998 he had a deal in place to buy a portion of the Minnesota Vikings, but had to pull out in order to pay a divorce settlement to his wife of 30 years, Wanda Thomas King. As part of the divorce, Wandy received half of his 24% stake in the Orioles.

Between team valuation increases, TV deals, merchandise sales and other windfalls, that 24% combined stake in the Orioles has generated $230 million in profits to date.

Arguably though, Tom's most valuable asset was the Jack Ryan character.

Wanda and Tom had four children together. Their divorce was finalized in 1999. In addition to a large cash settlement, Tom created a new corporation to hold the copyright to his future books. He agreed to give Wanda and his children a stake in that new company. But that's not all…

Well before his first marriage hit the rocks, Tom created two companies to hold the copyrights and intellectual property for his books. The first company, Jack Ryan Enterprises LTD, was created in 1985. First wife Wanda was given 40% stake in this company. Tom owned the other 60%. The second company, Jack Ryan Limited Partnership, was created in 1992. Wanda and Tom were 50/50 owners of this second corporation.

One year after divorcing Wanda, Tom married a new woman named Alexandra Marie Llewellyn. They had a daughter, his 5th child. And before you go thinking that Alexandra was a gold-digger because she was 35-years younger than Tom, think again. Alexandra's father, J. Bruce Llewellyn, was one of the most successful African-American businessmen in US history thanks to a Coca-Cola Bottling company he owned with a group of investors. At the time of his death, J. Bruce was worth $160 million.

Death And Profits Today

When Tom Clancy died, he had four adult children with his first wife, Wanda and one child with his widow, Alexandra. The terms of his will gave 80% of everything he owned to Alexandra. The remaining 20% went to his five children.

At the time of his death, outside of his Orioles investment, Clancy was worth $83 million. So 80% of that benefiteed Alexandra, 20% went to his five children.

As we mentioned previously, during his first marriage Tom placed the IP of his works into two corporations. Let's call them Corp 1 and Corp 2. Tom owned 60% of Corp 1 and 50% of Corp 2. When he died, 80% of his shares went to Alexandra, 20% went to his five children. First wife Wanda's 40% and 50% stakes remained.

For the sake of simplicity, let's pretend there were 100 shares of Corp 1 and 100 shares of Corp 2. When Tom died, 80% of his 60 shares go to Alexandra. That's 48 shares. The remaining 12 shares are divided evenly among his 5 children. That's 2.4 shares a piece. Wanda still owns 40 shares.

For Corp 2, 80% of Tom's 50 shares went to Alexandra. That's 40 shares to Alexandra. The remaining 10 shares are divided evenly among his 5 children. That's 2 shares a piece. Wanda still owns 50 shares.

We know more than we should about this legal arrangement thanks to a lawsuit that Alexandra filed in 2017. In her lawsuit, Alexandra pointed out that there was actually no specific mention of the character "Jack Ryan" when the corporations were formed back in 1985 and 1993. Therefore it was her contention that the character Jack Ryan should belong 100% to her. The lawsuit was ultimately unsuccessful but from the filings we are able to learn that when royalties are generated by the Jack Ryan character (or any other IP he owned prior to his second marriage), they get distributed as such:

1/3 goes Jack Ryan Enterprises (Corp 1)

1/3 goes to his estate (Alexandra)

1/3 goes to Jack Ryan Limited Partnership (Corp 2)

So with that split in mind, let's say Amazon is paying $30 million to make the Jack Ryan series (which I just made up but probably isn't a terrible guess). Here's how that money would trickle down:

$10 million goes to Corp 1.

–> $4 million goes to first wife Wanda, $4.8 million goes to Alexandra, $240k goes to each of the five kids.

$10 million goes to Alexandra.

–> Alexandra is the sole beneficiary of this distribution.

$10 million goes to Corp 2.

–> $5 million goes to Wanda, $4 million goes to Alexandra, $200k goes to each of the five kids.

When it's all said and done on a $30 million deal:

Wanda: $4m + $5m = $9m

Five kids: $240k + 200k = $440k (per person)

Alexandra: $4.8m + $10m + $4m = $18.8m

Long story short, Tom's widow earns the lion's share of all royalties and profits generated by Jack Ryan and any of Tom's early novels. She makes even more money because she owns 80% of everything Tom created post 1998! And she presumably has a chunk of her father's money. Side note, in January of 2018, Alexandra bought an $8.5 million Beverly Hills mansion in CASH. Outside of managing her personal wealth, she runs a handbag company that is apparently somewhat successful and well-known.

So there you have it! Go watch Jack Ryan on Amazon!

Read more: Tom Clancy Died In 2013. So Who Owns And Profits From The Jack Ryan Character Today? It's A Fascinating And Tangled Web!

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash has been in the midst of a contentious divorce from Perla Ferrar. The latest skirmish in their attempt to reach a mutually agreeable split has Ferrar accusing Slash of hiding money and income in order to avoid paying her what she feels is her fair share. Now, TMZ reports that both Slash and Ferrar are officially single, but some interesting tidbits about Slash's financial situation were dredged up in the process. Before the settlement was reached, Ferrar's attorney Marty Singer spoke on the situation, alluding to the $45 million Slash made last year:

"Even though Slash reported over $45,000,000 of income last year, my client's court papers allege that he refused to pay for a $1,500 drum set that was requested by his son, a musician in a band, so that he could have a drum set at his mother's home where he spends approximately 90% of his time. The other drum sets are at Slash's home and studio where Slash does not allow his teenage son to remove them."

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

That's a lot of money, but not too surprising given the continuing success of GnR as a touring outfit. Last year, for example, Guns N' Roses made a reported $430 million on their "Not In This Lifetime Tour." 

Things got pretty nasty between Slash and his ex-wife, but it appears to be over now, with Slash agreeing to pay out $6.6 million, plus $100,000 per month for spousal support and another $39,000 per month in child support. He'll keep his guitars and any music publishing rights he holds now, along with any future proceeds from those rights, but in addition to the child support his kids will each get 0.9 percent of his income for the next twenty years — not too bad for them, especially if he has a few more years like 2017 was earnings-wise.

Read more: Guns N' Roses Guitarist Slash Apparently Made $45 Million LAST YEAR

Stuart Woods net worth: Stuart Woods is an American novelist who has a net worth of $9 million. Stuart Woods was born in Manchester, Georgia in January 1938. He graduated from the University of Georgia. He has authored several novels including his Will Lee series including the first in the series Chiefs in 1981 which won him an Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was adapted into a TV miniseries featuring an all-star cast. Another novel in that series, Grass Roots, was made into a TV miniseries as well. Stuart Woods has authored the Stone Barrington novel series with the 48^th book being released at the end of 2018. He has also released the Holly Barker novel series, the Ed Eagle novel series, the Rick Barron novel series, the Teddy Fay novel series, and several stand alone novels. He also made a cameo in the TV series Chiefs in 1983.

Read more: Stuart Woods Net Worth

R. A. Salvatore net worth: R. A. Salvatore is an American author who has a net worth of $8 million. R. A. Salvatore was born in Leominster, Massachusetts in January 1959. In the United States he has sold more than 15 million books and he has had 22 titles become New York Times best-sellers. His works include the Icewind Dale trilogy, the Dark Elf trilogy, the Cleric quintet, the Legacy of the Drow series, the Paths of Darkness series, the Sellswords series, the Hunter's Blades trilogy, the War of the Spider Queen series, the Neverwinter series, the Corona series, the Spearwielder's tale series, the Chronicles of Ynis Aielle series, the Crimson Shadow series, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Vector Prime, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, and more. R. A. Salvatore also writes for video games including Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone and has won multiple awards. He studied at Fitchburg State College.

Read more: R. A. Salvatore Net Worth

Frank Ski net worth: Frank Ski is an American DJ, journalist, and radio personality who has a net worth of $5 million. Frank Ski was born in Harlem, New York in May 1964. In the 1990s he was a house music artist under the name Doo Doo Brown. He co-hosted the Frank and Wanda Morning Show with Wanda Smith on WVEE in Atlanta, Georgia from 1998 to 2012. Reverend Jesse Jackson gave Ski the title of Journalist of the Year by the Rainbow Push Coalition in 2002. Frank Ski helped raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina to the tune of $500 thousand. He hosts the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame. Frank Ski has also worked as a radio personality and record producer in Baltimore. He has also received the Achievement in Radio Award from the Georgia March of Dimes, a Distinguished Community Service Award from the National Urban League, a Community Service Award from the Ludacris Foundation, and more. He created the Frank Ski Kids Foundation in 2000

Read more: Frank Ski Net Worth

Kyle Sandilands net worth and salary: Kyle Sandilands is an Australian radio host and television personality who has a net worth of $6 million. Kyle Sandilands was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in June 1971. He co-hosts the morning radio show The Kyle and Jackie O Show on KIIS 106.5 in Sydney with Jackie O. Sandilands was a judge on the reality television series Australian Idol from 2005 to 2009. In 2008 he began hosting the reality TV series Big Brother and in 2010 he became a judge on the reality series Australia's Got Talent and the Australian The X Factor. He is quite controversial and is known as a shock jock. In 2014 he appeared in the film Fat Pizza vs. Housos. Kyle Sandilands has served as a narrator for the reality TV series Meet the Hockers. He has worked for other radio stations including 2Day FM, Mix 101.1, and Fox FM in Melbourne.

Read more: Kyle Sandilands Net Worth

Rachel Renee Russell net worth: Rachel Renee Russell is an American author and attorney who has a net worth of $7 million. Rachel Renee Russell is best known for her children's book series Dork Diaries as well as The Misadventures of Max Crumbly. Her Dork Diaries series is based off of the real life experiences of her two daughters who help her with the illustrations. The series includes the books Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Fabulous Life, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Popular Party Girl, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Talented Pop Star, Dork Diaries: How To Dork Your Diary, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Graceful Ice Princess, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Happy Heartbreaker, Dork Diaries: OMG! All About Me Diary!, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Glam TV Star, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Happily Ever After, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Dorky Drama Queen, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Perfect Pet Sitter, Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So-Friendly Frenemy, and Dork Diaries: Tales From a No-So Secret Crush Catastrophe.

Read more: Rachel Renee Russell Net Worth

Ron Delsener net worth: Ron Delsener is an American concert promoter who has a net worth of $25 million. Ron Delsener has been a staple of the outdoor concert scene since 1964. He worked as a promoter for The Beatles when they performed their first outdoor concert at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, New York. Delsener also worked with artists including Bob Dylan, Woody Allen, Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more. He created the $1 per ticket concert series at Wollman Ice-Skating Ring located in Central Park in 1966 which included performances by Led Zeppelin, Otis Redding, Joni Mitchell, Louis Armstrong, and more. Ron Delsener also produced the first free popular music concerts taking place in Central Park. He was the exclusive promoter at the Garden State Arts Center in New Jersey. He was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. In 2018 he donated $100 thousand towards a new spray pad at Jones Beach State Park along with Dave Matthews.

Read more: Ron Delsener Net Worth

Neil Buchanan net worth: Neil Buchanan is an English television personality and musician who has a net worth of $8 million. Neil Buchanan was born in Aintree, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom in October 1961. He is a member of the heavy metal band Marseille. The band formed in 1976 and has released four albums. He co-created and presented the television series Art Attack from 1990 to 2007. Neil Buchanan also presented the TV series Finders Keepers from 1991 to 1996 as well as the series It's a Mystery from 1996 to 2000. He produced and starred in the television series ZZZap! From 1993 to 1998. Buchanan has also appeared on the TV series Do It from 1984 to 1986 and No 73 from 1985 to 1986. He was nominated for BAFTA Awards for Best Children's Programme (Factual) for Art Attack in 1995 and 1996 and for Best Entertainment for ZZZap! In 1996.

Read more: Neil Buchanan Net Worth

What does it mean to be "ultra wealthy?" According to the Wealth-X's annual "World Ultra Wealth Report," it's anybody with a net worth of $30 million or more. In the past, the ultra wealthy of the world were most highly concentrated in New York City in greater numbers than to any other city in the world, but the most recent Ultra Wealth Report indicates that that's changing, and that for the first time Hong Kong has overtaken New York with an ultra wealthy population spike of 31 percent over the course of 2017.

The means 10,010 ultra wealthy individuals now call Hong Kong home. To put that 31 percent growth rate in perspective, New York City enjoyed a 7 percent increase in the same population over the same period, bring its total to 8,865. Why Hong Kong? For one, wealth in Hong Kong is somewhat advantaged due to its connection with the US dollar, which serves as the baseline currency for how wealth is calculated in studies like Wealth-X's. But Wealth-X Institute head Vincent White, one of the authors of the report, explains the main reason:

"Hong Kong's rise in terms of the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals is mainly because of its trade and investment links to China's mainland, where new, self-made wealth is growing at the fastest pace."

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

It might bear clarifying that an ultra wealthy population boom in Hong Kong doesn't come from the rich deciding to move there, but from new ultra wealthy individuals being generated through the economy. In fact, all seven of the major regions covered by the report saw their ultra wealthy populations expand in 2017, with the overall global expansion coming to 18.5 percent to a total of 68,970 ultra-wealthy individuals worldwide. And as for their combined wealth, that went up too: $8.4 trillion, a growth of 26.7 percent.

If you're feeling any patriotic loss of pride upon reading some of these numbers, don't worry: The USA is still home to more ultra wealthy people than any other country, with 79,595, or 31 percent of the global ultra wealthy population.

Read more: Hong Kong Beats Out New York City In Number Of "Ultra Wealthy" Residents

Taylor Swift's current recording contract with Big Machine Records expires in November, making the "Shake It Off" singer a free agent. It will be the first opportunity Swift has had to sign a new contract since she was 15 years old. Swift is now 28 years old and one of the most successful female musicians in history. She's also an incredibly savvy business woman. Swift is already free to explore deals with other recording companies, but she cannot sign any new deal before her current contract expires in November.

Swift put Big Machine Records on the map. It is expected that she will discuss staying with the Nashville based indie label distributed by Universal Music Group as well as have discussions with the other major record labels. Needless to say, Swift could not be in a better position to negotiate the best deal. In an age where more and more fans are streaming music rather than buying it, Swift still sells a ton of albums. Her latest album Reputation, is triple platinum. Her first five albums all sold between six and 10 million copies for an out of the gate streak that no other artist can claim. She sells concert tickets and merch like wildfire.

LISA O'CONNOR/AFP/Getty Images

The key to Swift's future contract is the fact that it is nearly certain that she will retain ownership of her master recordings. Her previous albums are currently in the hands of Big Machine and that label would like to keep them for herself. Industry analysts place the value of Swift's past albums at $20 million EACH.  If Big Machine fails to real a deal to keep Swift, it could bring dire consequences. As much as 80% of Big Machine's revenue is thanks to Taylor Swift. Artists like Swift don't become free agents all that often. The deal she ends up signing could be for $20 million per album.

Most major labels will be courting Swift. After all, she is the closest thing to a sure thing in the music business. The closest thing to Swift is the deal Garth Brooks negotiated in 1993 at the height of his popularity. He renegotiated his deal with Liberty Records to retain the rights to his master recordings.

Swift's deal won't just be for future albums. If Swift leaves Big Machine with the rights to her catalog as expected, any deal she signs will include the value of her incredibly value past recordings. Let's look at some of the numbers.

• Reputation sold 1.216 million copies in its first week of release in 2017 DESPITE the fact that it was not made available to streaming services. The other 199 albums on that week's Billboard 200 sold a combined 863,000 copies.
• Only 21 albums have sold one million copies during the first week of release. Four of those albums are Swift's. Every single one of her albums has sold at least two million copies. Reputation is the only album to sell that much in the past two years.
• The first five stops on Swift's massive Reputation tour brought in $54 million. The gross receipts for the entire tour are expected to be more than $400 million.

There are a number of scenarios for Swift. She could stay with Big Machine. The issue there comes to her masters. She wants them. Big Machine understandably does not want to give them up. Any new deal with that label – which she made famous – will come down to a fight over her past recordings.

Swift could also opt to leave Big Machine but remain with Universal Music Group. They already distribute and promote her music. It is in their best financial interests to keep Swift on the label. The label is trying to sell 50% of their business and keeping Swift in house could raise the price for that stake.

Swift could also go it alone. Does she really need a major label at this point in her career? She already has an in house team that does all of her promotional work. She could negotiate her own distribution deal. Today, labels promote artists on the radio and internationally as well as develop artists. Clearly Swift does not need to be developed or need her profile raised on the radio or international.

As for other major labels that are not Universal, Swift could land at Sony owned Columbia. However, she'd have to share the diva title with Beyoncé and Adele. She would reign supreme at any of Sony's other labels as well as at Warner Music Group. The nine figure price tag that Swift 's past and future work commands is likely to leave some players out of the negotiations.

One thing is for certain, Swift is in a unique position. Everyone wants her. If she retains the rights to her masters, she can write her own check.

Read more: Is Taylor Swift On The Verge Of Signing A 9-Figure Contract?