In 1996, Autry Stephens struck out on his own to pursue riches in the oil industry via his Big Dog Drilling Co. He had just one rig. Now, 22 years later, he owns the largest closely-held oil producer by production volume in Texas. Endeavor Energy Resources LP is based in Midland, Texas and is currently being courted by Exxon and Chevron for acquisition. Bids value the company at $15 billion. A sale of that size would be in the top 10 biggest deals for a private energy company and instantly catapult Stephens onto the list of the world's richest people. Endeavor controls the drilling rights on 329,000 net acres in the subsection of Midland Basin in the Permian Basin of West Texas. Stephens and his family own 100% of Endeavor.

The Permian Basin is the U.S.'s most productive oil region. Endeavor's sale presents a huge opportunity for Big Oil – the company has one of the last major land holdings that is in private hands in the Permian Basin. Land values in that region have soared of late. A sale of Endeavor could give Stephens a $14 billion fortune and make him one of the 100 wealthiest people in the world. It would also make him the richest oil tycoon in the U.S.—ahead of Harold Hamm of Continental Resources and George Kaiser of Kaiser-Francis Oil Co.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Stephens grew up on a watermelon and peanut farm in central Texas. The opportunity to work in exotic places drew him to the oil industry after he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in petroleum engineering. He went to work for Humble Oil (now a part of Exxon), the Army Corps of Engineers, and a local Midland Bank. It was at the bank in 1979 where he decided to hop off the corporate career track. Over the next couple of decades, he moved from an engineer-for-hire with nearly nothing to his name, to an oil tycoon who bought up drilling rights and branching out into trucking, well services, and construction. He used all profits to buy more land.

During the 2008 financial crisis, a group of banks forced Endeavor to repay $100 million within six months. Stephens had to shut down all but a handful of his rigs. This makes Endeavor's valuation today all the more impressive.

Stephens also appeared on the truTV documentary series Black Gold. He appeared on Season 2, which revolved around workers on a Big Dog rig trying to finish four wells in 50 days.

Endeavor has less than 2% of its Midland Basin acreage developed with horizontal drilling rig – the technique that helped usher in the period of record oil production in the U.S. Endeavor's vast amount of untapped land is a big draw for would be buyers. Of course, the sheer size of the company's land holdings means potential buyers are limited to Big Oil's deep pockets.

In reality, Exxon is the most logical buyer for Endeavor. The company has the ability to pay, focus on the Permian Basin, and has a history of joint ventures with Stephens. In fact, Exxon is the Permian Basin's most active driller. However, a buyer isn't necessarily what Stephens is after. He and his family would prefer to take Endeavor public next year, allowing them to maintain control of the company.

Read more: From Oil Wildcatter To Reality TV Star To Potential Billionaire

Jennifer Lopez is a big star, and thus commands big fees for her work – no surprise there. But it's still a bit of a jolt to see just how much she can make for an unusually short engagement such as the one a couple of weeks back in Qatar, which lasted only 20 minutes. For that performance, she brought in a reported $2 million, plus another million for expenses.

Of course, that $3 million paycheck also included a short question and answer session from Lopez, so it wasn't just for 20 minutes of work, technically speaking. According to TMZ, the private event saw Lopez speaking during the Q&A on the subject of women's rights, a hot subject in Qatar, and Lopez herself is distinguished as one of the few female entertainers to be invited to perform in the country.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Lopez making millions for a short performance at a private party might not be as unusual as you think, and it's not the only notable such paycheck to be earned by other big stars recently.

In 2015, Nicki Minaj earned somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000 to perform at the bar mitzvah of one Matt Murstein, son of New York businessman Andrew Murstein, worth about $600 million. Then, later in that same year, Nicki earned an even bigger payday of $2 million to perform at a corporate event for Angolan telecom company Unitel, a controversial move due to the company's connection to Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, "one of Africa's chief human rights violators and most corrupt tyrants" according to the Human Rights Foundation.

Performers like Taylor Swift and Dave Matthews were reported to have a fee of $1 million to perform at private functions, although those with connections to a celebrity booking agent could possibly get them to perform for less. It's said that generally, the biggest names in pop command fees of between $600,000 and $1.5 million, but the rock legends The Rolling Stones won't show up to your party for less than $2 million – the bottom part of the $2 million to $5 million they're reported to have gotten to play a private birthday party a couple of years ago.

Read more: Jennifer Lopez Made $3 Million For A 20 Minute Performance In Qatar

One of the best compensated executives in the world is "billionaire bookie" Denise Coates, head of online bookmaker Bet365, following reports that she secured a pay packet valued at some $281 million last year.

Coates is the founder and CEO of Bet365, and the reports stem from recently published documents indicating the company's financial disclosures for the fiscal year ending on March 25th. Coates isn't identified by name in these documents, but they identify the award for the highest-paid executive with the company, which would naturally be her.

Coates' pay for last year puts her at the top of UK executives in terms of compensation, and represents an increase of about ten percent compared to what she made the year before. And as if that weren't enough, it also makes her better paid than any other leader of any of the US companies on the S&P 500 Index.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MAY 15: bet365 Chief Executive Denise Coates poses with her Commander of the British Empire (CBE) medal, which was presented by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales at an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on May 15, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Sean Dempsey – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Coates' stake in Bet365 as of 2015 was just a little over 50 percent, while her family fortune is estimated to be worth some 5.8 billion pounds, which comes to a little over $7.4 billion in US dollars. Basically, she's rich. And some of her fellow Bet365 board members like her brother John Coates and her dad Peter Coates were also compensated according to the documents, with dividends of  80.7 million pounds going to the company's board of directors.

It all comes as a result of a very good year for Bet365, which saw a reported 31 percent jump in profits according to Bloomberg. But now the company's future has been "clouded" somewhat by reports that the UK government is looking to increase taxes on activities such as gambling, with many calling for greater transparency in the betting industry. As the second-largest betting firm in the UK, such changes would have an out sized impact on Bet365's bottom line.

Read more: "Billionaire Bookie" Denise Coates Scored Record $281 Million In Pay Last Year

Kawhi Leonard is making moves north of the border. The Toronto Raptors star agreed to a multi-year endorsement deal with New Balance. The company is hoping to re-establish itself as a major player in the basketball market. And Leonard will serve as the face of the brand.

Leonard had previously been signed with Jordan Brand but turned down an extension earlier this year. He opted to go with New Balance as they look to make some noise in the NBA after laying dormant.

With Leonard, New Balance looks like a company on the rise. Their annual revenues have nearly tripled over the past decade, rising from $1.5 billion to $4.2 billion per year.

The company also has Sydney McLaughlin on its athlete roster. McLaughlin, a hurdler and sprinter, will likely be one of the hottest athletes of the 2020 Olympic Games.

Tim Bradbury/Getty Images

The actual value of Leonard's deal hasn't been disclosed, though he'll likely make more than $5 million per year from New Balance. The Jordan Brand extension he turned down was worth four years and $22 million.

Leonard's agreement comes in tandem with another move from New Balance. The company hired Darius Bazley, a top prospect in the 2019 NBA Draft, as an "intern." Bazley, who committed to Syracuse before later de-committing, will earn anywhere between $1 million and $14 million from New Balance.

In a way, Leonard's decision is reflective of his recent career path. He missed all but nine games for the Spurs last year and is having an MVP-caliber start to this season. Guiding the Raptors to their first-ever title would be the ultimate redemption story.

Read more: Kawhi Leonard Turned Down An Extension With Jordan Brand To Sign With New Balance

Disgraced former CBS head Les Moonves has not seen the end of his bad days in the press. The New York Times recently published a lengthy piece alleging a sexual assault years ago on a young actress named Bobbie Phillips, then working with the actress' agent Marv Dauer in order to keep her quiet.

CBS has been reviewing Moonves' conduct while he was with the network, and if it turns out that he did indeed use his position to effectively pay off his sexual accusers, his $120 million exit package would likely be lost in the process.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

For Dauer's part, he took to The Times to deny the charge that he had essentially "blackmailed" Moonves and helped him keep abused clients in exchange for money:

"I don't know how I got in the middle of this. All I know is that I'm a key witness with $120 million at stake. I can't even imagine a sum of money like that … I wouldn't even know how to blackmail someone … Not in my wildest dreams. Yes, I did try to get my clients parts. That's my job. That's what managers do."

Moonves himself also delivered a statement to the press, denying the assault and claiming that the sexual encounter between himself and Philips was consensual, but has admitted to CBS' investigators that he gave Philips jobs in order to keep her quiet about the affair (left unexplained is why Philips would have "ran out of room" after a consensual affair as she is reported to have done).

Philips is now pursuing legal action against CBS and Moonves, suing for $15 million in damages for both the alleged assault itself and Moonves' claim that the encounter was consensual, as her attorney Eric George says Moonves' actions caused "medical injuries and effectively [ended] her acting career."

Philips has been retired from acting since 2003.

Read more: Les Moonves Very Likely Just Lost $120 Million Due To Sexual Harassment Allegations

Have you ever considered how much time you spend in the bathroom? Maybe you take extra long showers or baths or play on your phone. There are even multiple studies on toilet time, with the results showing we spend anywhere from an hour and a half to upwards of three hours simply using the bathroom. Still, that's nowhere near the amount of time that poker player Rich Alati is planning to spend in a bathroom.

Rich Alati made a bet with fellow poker player Rory Young. The best is that Alati could spend 30 days straight in a pitch-black bathroom, totally secluded from the outside world. If he pulled it off, he'd win $100,000.

So, starting November 21, Alati has been locked in that bathroom in an "undisclosed location" in Las Vegas. In order to win $100k, he'll have to stay there until December 16.

Young did say that Alati is getting a fair amount of treatment, despite being in total darkness. As he explained to PocketFives: "The conditions are complete darkness, so no electronics, no light-emitting devices, no drugs of any kind. He is allowed any type of food that he wants. He has a bed in there, he has a shower and a bathtub. He has pretty lavish toiletries like Epsom salts, sugar scrubs, that kind of stuff."

MICHAEL BUHOLZER/AFP/Getty Images

Meals come every three to six days. To further disorient Alati, Young said the delivery will always be six days' worth of food, so Alati doesn't really know how much time he's spent in the bathroom.

Young was also surprised that Alati didn't ask for any kind of odds. Young said he would need at least $5 million to do the same bet. Alati apparently has a lower asking price.

So how did all of this come to actually happen? Well, maybe you and your friends have had hypothetical discussions about how much money you'd want to do something stupid. Like, say, if someone gave you a million dollars, you'd jump into a freezing cold lake. Of course, in those cases, you don't usually actually jump into the lake.

This bet is pretty much the same thing. Young said that he likes to ask people how long they think they could last in a dark room with no human interaction. He posed that query to Alati, who replied with the ambitious answer of "30 days."

And, well…here we are. There's a private link for family and close friends to view Alati. However, he can't communicate with them.

The bet has apparently inspired other ridiculous poker bets, too. Young said he recently got a call from Huckleberry Seed, a former World Series of Poker Main Event champion. Seed wanted to do a similar bet for a $1 million prize, but more difficult conditions: 40 days, no bed, no food for the first 21 days, and only water.

And for good measure, Seed said Young could throw cockroaches in the bathroom, too. Because why not?

If Alati does emerge victoriously, he'll be $100,000 richer. Let's just hope the hallway outside the bathroom doesn't have super bright lights.

Read more: Could You Sit Alone In Total Darkness For 30 Days Straight? How About For $100K? That's An Actual Bet Happening In Vegas Right Now

A Chinese company called Yulong Eco-Materials has reportedly made the unusual decision to switch from recycling into the art business. They recently spent $75 million on one of the depictions of the Crucifixion by famed artist Michelangelo, and they've taken the even more unusual step of selling "shares" of the painting for ten bucks a pop.

As a press statement from Yulong executive chairman Daniel McKinney following the announcement of the sale puts it:

"Yulong has today pioneered this new disruptive business model by the acquisition and securitization of fine art through a Nasdaq-listed security."

Yulong has plans to "open the opportunity of shared ownership of its acquired masterpieces to anyone with a brokerage account," by selling off 7.5 million shares in the painting, which will then presumably pay dividends when the painting is sold at a profit later. And it's this "disruptive" business model that the former recycling company is going to focus on from now on, according to the company itself.

BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

The Michelangelo (similar in subject to the master's drawings seen above) isn't actually the company's first acquisition in this area. In October, it purchased the "Millennium Sapphire," a 61,500-carat gem that cost about $50 million. Shares in this gem were also sold, and the company still has plans to take it on a world tour at some point in the future.

While it might seem like a somewhat erratic or chancy move, Yulong's stock has reportedly responded positively to the news that it's changing its focus. On the day the purchase of the Michelangelo was announced its stock saw a jump of up to 47 percent, and that spike in value paled in comparison to the gains it saw after its purchase of the Millennium Sapphire a month before that – at that time, Yulong's stock saw a jump of nearly a thousand percent following the announcement of the purchase.

Read more: Chinese Company Buys $75 Million Michelangelo Painting, Now Selling $10 Shares

Mike Tyson is legendary for many reasons – the face tattoo, the biting off of Evander Holyfield's ear, oh, and all of the knockouts. "Iron" Mike Tyson is one of the top 15-heavyweight boxers to ever step foot into the ring. He is also legendary for his prolific spending. Tyson is estimated to have earned $400 million during his career and have had $300 million in the bank at one point. He should have been set for life. But he blew it all. Every single last dollar. He had an entourage so large it rivaled the size of a small country. He owned Siberian tigers. He had fleets of luxury vehicles, a posse of prostitutes, and a 21-bedroom mansion. Iron Mike didn't deny himself anything.

Over the course of a decade, Tyson not only blew through $300 million, but he went $50 million in debt too. How do you spend $350 million in 10 years?

Mike grew up poor in Brownsville, New York in the late 1970s. By the time he was 22 years old he was the youngest heavyweight champion of all time and a household name. How did Tyson run through all that money? He didn't have the upbringing, tools, or coping mechanisms to deal with his sudden fame, money, and attention.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Tyson made his professional debut in 1985. Life was going very well for Tyson until he lost his title to Buster Douglas in 1990. Then it all fell apart. Less than a year after losing his title, Tyson was accused of raping Desiree Washington. He was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 1995 after serving four years. At this time, he reportedly had $300 million in the bank.

In the first three years after getting out of prison, Tyson spent:

• $4.5 million on cars and motorbikes (19 vehicles he bought for friends)
• $400,000 on pigeons and a variety of big cats such as Siberian tigers
• $300,000 on lawn care and garden maintenance alone
• $240,000 per month for walking around money that he spent in daily life flexing
• $230,000 on cell phones, pagers, and phone bills
• $125,000 per year for an animal trainer to take care of the big cats
• $100,000 per month on jewelry and clothes

During this same time, Mike bought a 21-bedroom, 24-bathroom mansion in Connecticut. The house had its own nightclub and casino. Tyson also bought homes in Maryland, Las Vegas, and Ohio. His Ohio home had gold plated furnishings and a basketball court.

Tyson is believed to have bought 111 cars over the course of his lifetime. Among those cars was a $500,000 limited edition Bentley Continental SC. Only 73 of this car was ever made. He also owned a number of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, a Mercedes-Benz 500, a Range Rover, and a 1995 Rolls Royce which he later totaled in an accident. He left that Rolls Royce at an auto repair garage and told them to keep it. Tyson also often lent his cars to friends and forgot where he'd put them or who he'd loaned them to. He sent members of his entourage out to find the missing cars.

Another legend about Tyson and his money is the time he found tens of thousands of dollars stashed in his laundry basket. He left the money there two years earlier.

One of the most outlandish purchases Tyson ever made was a $2 million golden bathtub for his first wife, actress Robin Givens.

For what it is worth, Tyson takes responsibility for his irresponsible money management. He has said that it was all his fault, but he had a great time. Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2007. Today, Mike Tyson has a net worth of $3 million.

Read more: How Did Mike Tyson Manage To Blow Through $400 Million?

"TV host" isn't a bad job if you can swing it, but the people in charge know that the right one is invaluable, and they command extremely large paychecks as a result. How large? Take a look at this list of the five highest paid TV hosts on the air right now and see for yourself.

5. Steve Harvey — $44 Million

VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images

Unlike the other figures on this list, Steve Harvey is leveraging a prolific work schedule into big money, rather than taking home top earnings from just one or two shows. He's currently the host of iconic game show classic Family Feud, his daytime talk show Steve, the annual Miss Universe beauty pageant, and talent contest program Little Big Shots, and something called Steve Harvey's Funderdome, all of which and more, handed him $44 million in earnings from June 1st, 2017, to June 1st, 2018.

4. Ryan Seacrest — $74 Million

The fourth place spot on this list belongs to Ryan Seacrest, who is the host of both Live With Kelly and Ryan and the show that made him a household name, American Idol. Those jobs together earned him a healthy $74 million over the last year.

3. Dr. Phil McGraw — $77.5 Million

Phil McGraw, much better known to the world as "Dr. Phil," edged out Seacrest by $3.5 million with his daytime show of the same name as well as his behind-the-camera producer credits.

2. Ellen DeGeneres — $87.5 Million

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Imagesj

Last year Ellen became the first woman to make $20 million for a Netflix special. That, in addition to her popular daytime talk show, numerous endorsement contracts, and various TV producing gigs earned her $87.5 million in the last year.

1. Judy Sheindlin — $147 Million

Judge Judy / Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Judy Sheindlin, who you may know by her TV moniker "Judge Judy," made more than triple her usual annual salary with her well publicized deal to sell back the reruns to her extremely popular TV show back to CBS. Altogether it got her $147 million for the year, more than enough to hit the top of this list.

Read more: Here Are The Five Highest Paid Hosts On TV

It was the most expensive mansion in the entire Southwest Florida region. Now, the lot on which the 10,825-square-foot Naples mansion once stood is now vacant, torn down to make room for another, possibly even more expensive, home.

The mansion was sold in June of this year according to a recent USA Today report. Who the new owners are is not public knowledge, but Mike Austin of BJ Excavating was in charge of the demolition, and hinted to the paper about what the owners plan to do with the now empty property:

"We just finished it like a week and a half ago, and it took two months to do. It's an exclusive property, and the home that's going there matches up with it."

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

That will be no small feat, as the property at 2500 Gordon Drive had an impressive history going back some 80 years. In 1937, the mansion's original incarnation had nine bedrooms, 12 bathrooms and a five-car garage, as well as a residence for staff and a guesthouse. Then, in 1981 the home was purchased and demolished for the first time to make room for the mansion that went on to become the most expensive in Southwest Florida when it was sold to its undisclosed current owners. In between, it became something of an inanimate reality TV star thanks to its service as a location on the show Paradise Coast Wives.

And Austin said the entire mansion, vegetation and all, was completely scrapped:

"Everything went to dump facilities. It's all recycled."

He was able to keep some of the mansion's former furnishings, though, which he definitely seems pleased with:

"You got to remember it was completely top-of-the-line remodeled not even 11 years ago, so there was some really killer stuff in there."

Now, the next chapter in the saga of one of the most illustrious addresses in Florida is set to begin.

Read more: Huge $48.8 Million South Florida Mansion Torn Down To Make Room For New One

Cryptocurrency is a complex, sometimes impenetrable field, and celebrities that get involved in it often do so just for some quick cash and not because they understand any of the concepts involved. That's fine, but the Securities and Exchange Commission insists that if a celebrity endorses a cryptocurrency, or any other kind of product for that matter, they have to disclose to the public that they're a paid spokesperson and not just a fan. Now, TMZ reports that both Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled have been busted by the SEC for failing to make those disclosures when they promoted a token called Centra on social media last year, and together they had to cough up more than $750,000 in settlements.

By far the largest share of that amount belongs to Mayweather, who had to pay back the $300,000 he made to promote Centra, plus another $300,000 in fines, and still another $14,000 in interest. Khaled had to pay $50,000 in disgorgement (the word which refers to paying back the original money made in an illegal manner), with $100,000 in fines and $2,725 in interest.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Failure to disclose paid spokesman status is really only a drop in the bucket of Centra's problems, since the SEC previously determined it was essentially a big scam to draw in investors with fake execs listed on the company's website and various other examples of malpractice.

In view of that aspect of the case, the SEC is reported to have also demanded that Mayweather and Khaled stop promoting any cryptocurrencies for the time being as part of their settlements. For Mayweather's part, any such promotions will be forbidden for the next three years, while Khaled can go back into the crypto endorsement business after just two. Both men are reported to have cooperated with SEC investigators over the course of the case.

Read more: Floyd Mayweather, DJ Khaled Ordered To Pay $750,000 In Cryptocurrency Scandal

Last year, 101-year-old David Rockefeller, last surviving grandson of John D. Rockefeller, passed away. And along with his life, Rockefeller lost the title of "world's oldest billionaire," a title that then and still now belongs to one Chang Yun Chung, a 100-year-old Singaporean shipping magnate who was recently the subject of a brief TIME magazine profile.

Chang was still active in the shipping business until "only recently," finally slowing down as head of his Pacific International Lines after nearly 70 years in the shipping business, but his reclusive nature means that little is known about him. His career in the shipping business began way back in 1949, when he worked for other shipping companies for some 18 years before striking out on his own, and since then he's been director of several shipping companies, including Tranpac Shipping Enterprises Limited in Hong Kong. In a rare TV interview, he summed up his approach to the business world like this:

"I'm hard-working, I'm very honest with everyone. Whatever I promise, I always fulfill my promise. That is my principle."

AFP/Getty Images

In 1967 Chang co-founded his Pacific International Lines with just two used ships in its fleet, but in the ensuing decades it's grown to 160 vessels strong. And as recently as 2016, the company partnered with Hong Kong's China Merchants Port with an eye towards expansion into new markets in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa.

This growth, as well as Pacific International Lines' entry into new tech fields like blockchain, have made Chang extremely rich, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. Despite his advanced age, it took him until this year to hand control of his company to one of his 14 children, as well as to step down as chairman of the company and from its board. He retains the title "chairman emeritus" in an advisory capacity, as well as the title of World's Oldest Billionaire.

Read more: Meet 100-Year-Old Chang Yun Chung, The World's Oldest Billionaire

Major League Baseball just announced the bonus pool for the 2018 postseason, and, naturally, the World Series champion Boston Red Sox are the biggest winners with a $31.7 million bonus to split among the 66 players, coming to $416,000 each. Pretty good, but not in fact the biggest per-player bonus in the history of the league – that record still belongs to the 2017 champions the Houston Astros, who got $438,000 each for their 2017 World Series win. Nevertheless, the total postseason bonus pool is still the highest total bonus pool in MLB's history.

That means there's plenty of money to go around this year, and altogether MLB is awarding a grand total of $88 million to the lineup of teams that made the 2018 playoffs. Here's how the rest of the bonuses, apart from the Red Sox's $31.7 million, shook out on a per-player basis:

The Los Angeles Dodgers — $267,027.49 per player

The Houston Astros — $154,656.05 Per Player

The Milwaukee Brewers — $122,957.13 Per Player

The Atlanta Braves — $40,375.74 Per Player

The Cleveland Indians — $37,040.29 Per Player

The Colorado Rockies — $40,335.96 Per Player

The New York Yankees — $43,081.55 Per Player

The Chicago Cubs — $16,155.34 Per Player

The Oakland Athletics — $19,760.35 Per Player

Bob Levey/Getty Images

In case you're interested in how the MLB bonus pool is determined, it's actually based on the gate receipts at each of the playoff games, with separate pools for Wild Card games, the Division Series, the League Championship Series, and the World Series. The bonuses are calculated as 50 percent of the total gate receipts for the Wild Card games, 60 percent of the first three Division Series games, 60 percent of the first four League Championship games, and 60 percent of the first four World Series games, tabulated in such a way as to avoid incentivizing any teams or players from trying to stretch out the length of a series for financial reasons. Individual shares, on the other hand, are voted on by the teams themselves, with full or partial shares sometimes going to people outside the core full season rosters.

Read more: Boston Red Sox Players Will Split $31.7 Million World Series Bonus, Second Largest In MLB History

Heroes rather ever fall as far from grace as cyclist Lance Armstrong, whose reputation was perhaps irrevocably tarnished due to the sport-wide doping scandal (and his handling of it) that cost him much more than just his reputation in lost endorsement deals and legal settlements. How was he able to stay financially afloat through it all? In a recent CNBC interview, Armstrong says an early investment in rideshare company Uber was invaluable, even going so far as to say: "It saved my family."

Armstrong went on to explain that it all started in 2009, when Armstrong put $100,000 into a new venture capital firm called Lowercase Capital, headed by one Chris Secca. As he explains it, most of that money went into Uber:

"I didn't even know that he did Uber. I thought he was buying up a bunch of Twitter shares from employees or former employees, and the biggest investment in [the] Lowercase fund one was Uber."

Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

One detail that Armstrong has declined to divulge is exactly how much that $100,000 investment is worth now, but he did say that the number is "too good to be true." That's especially good for Armstrong, who recently had to pay a $5 million settlement to the US government, and in truth he was getting off lucky there, as if the case had gone to trial the US could have sought up to $100 million in damages. Plus, there's the reported $20 million he's paid out in both damages and other settlements before that.

With Armstrong silent on the matter, the question of how much his early Uber investment might be worth is a matter of speculation. The company was worth around $3.7 million when he made the investment in 2009, and it's now estimated to be worth some $120 billion on the public market. Some estimates would then have Armstrong clearing as much as $20 million in profit from his initial $100,000 investment.

In addition to the millions in legal settlements and damages, Armstrong has also lost virtually all of his previously lucrative endorsements in the wake of the doping scandal that culminated in the cyclist's televised admission (to Oprah Winfrey, of all people) to having used performance enhancing drugs in his competitive cycling career.

Read more: Lance Armstrong's Very Early Uber Investment "Saved" His Family Financially

Patti Austin net worth: Patti Austin is an American jazz, R&B and pop singer who has a net worth of $12 million. Patti Austin was born on August 10, 1950 in Harlem, New York. Her father was a jazz trombonist. Quincy Jones considers himself Patti's godfather. Patti made her musical debut at the Apollo Theater when she was just four years old. She had a recording contract with RCA by the time she was five. She was a session singer throughout the 1960s, mainly working on commercial jingles. She soon became known as the "Queen of the Jingles" after memorable ear-worms for brands such as Burger King, KFC, Meo Mix and the US Army to name a few. She released her first solo studio album in 1976. She would go on to release more than 20 studio albums, several live albums, dozens of singles and more than 10 compilation albums. Her 1982 single "Baby, Come to Me" hit #1 on the US Hot 100 chart.

Read more: Patti Austin Net Worth

Denise Coates is the founder and co-CEO of UK betting firm Bet365.com. She earned $279 million in 2017, making her the highest-paid executive in the UK and the highest-earning female CEO in the world. Coates also made an additional $57 million in dividends from her 50% stake in the privately held Bet365.com Coates founded the company with her brother John. She started out crunching numbers for her father's betting shops while still in school. Coates has her degree in Econometrics from the University of Sheffield. After college, she continued working for the family betting shop, Provincial Racing. She was made Managing Director in 1995. She turned the business around and acquired another betting business. She is one of few women at the top of the gambling industry. When asked about that, she said:

"I never gave it a second thought. It didn't cross my mind. I probably had a few [meetings] at first where I had to put somebody right – but I knew my business, so it wasn't a problem. I just wanted to get on with making my business successful."

Denise Coates bought the domain Bet365.com in 2000, spent a year building the website, and launched the site in 2001. Today, it is one of the world's biggest online gambling sites and has netted the 51-year-old a net worth of $3.6 billion.

Sean Dempsey – WPA Pool/Getty Images

She obtained a loan using the family business as collateral to launch Bet365.com. In a way, she took a gamble that internet based betting would take off. Of course, we now know that it did. She worked her butt off to make Bet365 a success. About those early days, Coates said:

"You start a 24/7 business and you work 24/7. When you're not here [in the office], you take calls in the middle of the night, regularly – that's how the early days were. I've worked harder than you can possibly imagine."

Coates is on the Top 100 Richest in Tech list. In 2005, she sold the family business to UK betting behemoth Coral for $51 million. That allowed her to pay off the bank loan she took out to start her firm. Bet365.com generated $3.2 billion in revenue in 2017. The gaming industry in the UK is much different than it is in the U.S. The U.K. gambling market makes up 32% of the global gambling industry. The UK is the largest gambling market in the world – you can literally bet on just about anything there – and generated $17.7 billion during the year ending September 2016. Bet365.com accounts for about $2.8 billion of that $17.7 billion.

Coates salary is incredible, but controversial. Gambling addicts cost the UK up to $1.5 billion per year as of 2016. Authorities believe the UK's gambling industry needs more regulation. That could result in restricting Bet365's ability to do business and as a result, diminish Coates' earnings.

She formed her charity, The Denise Coates Foundation, in August 2012. Through the foundation she has donated $128 million to 20 causes in the UK and abroad. Coates has also created 3,000 new jobs in an area of the UK that had shed jobs dramatically in recent decades. She was awarded a "Commander of the Order of the British Empire" (CBE) in 2012 for her services to the community and to business.

Coates is married with five children, four of whom were adopted from the same family.

Read more: Highest Earning CEO In UK Is Female Head Of Betting Firm

In some parts of the country, people can be pretty territorial or even patriotic about the zip code their homes happen to fall in (these boundaries aren't quite as contentious as area codes, but that's a subject for another time). With that in mind, the real estate site PropertyShark takes an annual look at the most expensive US zip codes, based on closed home sales, and now the 2018 edition of the list is out.

One thing that will become abundantly clear in looking at the list is that California reigns supreme in the field of top dollar home prices. A whopping 82 zip codes out of 100 (actually 117, more on that in a minute) are located in California, and the number one most expensive zip code belongs to 94027, better known as Atherton, CA. Of those 82, thirty are located in the tech innovation paradise known as Silicon Valley, and San Francisco is tied with New York City with the most number of expensive zip codes – nine each.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Due to several ties on the list, there 35 non-California spots on the list remaining, and competition is hot among the remaining states. New York State has 19, while Massachusetts has six, and Connecticut has four. New Jersey has two, and Florida, Maryland, Nevada and Washington State get one each.

And now, with all those preliminary states out of the way, here at last are the 2018 Most Expensive Zip Codes in the US:

Read more: Here Are The 100 Most Expensive Zip Codes In The US

Good news for anybody looking for a bargain on a swanky Hollywood Hills house (better make that houses, but I'll explain that in a minute): Eva Longoria has been trying to get rid of hers for a while now, even though she got it fairly recently from its much more famous previous resident, and she recently dropped the listing price by some $1.2 million, bringing it down to a steal at $9.8 million.

First, I'll break the suspense and just tell you that the previous owner was none other than Tom Cruise, who sold the two houses on the property to Longoria, back in 2015. Yep, two houses for the price of one, depending on how you calculate prices: One a a four bedroom, four bathroom country-style home, and the other a French villa with three beds and three baths. There's also room on the almost three acre property for "two standalone studios and a quaint stone cottage."

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Interestingly, it's the three-bed, three-bath house that's considered the primary residence according to the real estate agency's official YouTube listing for the house. Both of the homes on this property boast "panoramic views" of the surrounding valley, along with unique touches like a storybook footbridge," and if you plan on having company, there are plenty of spots for your guests to enjoy the scenery:

"Surrounded by an abundance of mature shade trees and flanked by a series of meandering, stone-paved walking paths, the property showcases an array of outdoor entertaining terraces."

It just goes to show that no matter how perfect your home is, it can still be a pain in the neck to sell. And about that official YouTube listing, if you'd like to take a brief look at this home/homes that's been the private sanctuary for both Tom Cruise and Eva Longoria, you can do so below. Enjoy:

Read more: Eva Longoria Drops Price On Hollywood Hills Home, Listed Now At $9.8 Million

Georg Schaeffler and his mother Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler-Thumann are the majority shareholders of the German car parts manufacturer Continental AG. They also run the Schaeffler Group, a ball bearings maker that was founded by Georg Sr. in 1946, when he invented the cage-guided needle roller bearing, which allowed for large-scale production of roller bearings for the German auto industry. The Schaefflers have been one of Germany's richest families for years. However, over the course of 2018, their net worth has declined by about $16 billion – which is more than half of their combined wealth.

The decline in their net worth is due to extra costs and tough business conditions in Europe and Asia. Continental AG warned its shareholders that these conditions would affect profits. These challenges are expected to last well into 2019.

Georg and Maria-Elisabeth are now worth a combined $14.1 billion. This is the largest drop in fortune among the richest families in Europe. Shaeffler AG has also faced similar issues as Continental. Shares in both companies have declined more than 40% so far this year.

Joern Pollex/Getty Images

Continental AG is the world's second largest auto parts maker. It is now valued at roughly $30 billion.

George Schaeffler inherited 80% of the family ball bearing business when his father died in 1996. His mother inherited the other 20%. Together they pulled off one of the largest hostile takeovers in Germany by acquiring Continental in 2008 for more than $17 billion.

George, 54, served in the German military and worked in corporate law in the U.S. before moving home to Germany to join the family business.

Interestingly, Germany is home to the most billionaires in Europe.

Read more: Mother And Son See Net Worth Tumble 53% Over Past Year

Recently, several outlets have been reporting that Lance Armstrong's early investment in Uber changed the fortunes of his family. Not just that. If you believe some of these less-than-reputable outlets, Lance Armstrong is a certifiable billionaire thanks to Uber. Unfortunately those headlines are false. Lance Armstrong is NOT a billionaire. Questionable math and enormous leaps of faith were used to justify an attention getting headline in the pursuit of pageviews. Here's the full story:

Back in 2013, Lance Armstrong admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he had cheated to win his multiple Tour de France titles. That ended a storied cycling career that earned Armstrong more than $200 million (mainly from endorsements) and introduced an era of wallet draining legal problems into his life.

Armstrong, of course, set records by winning seven consecutive Tour De France races from 1999 to 2005. In August 2012 he was stripped of the titles after being found to have used performance enhancing drugs. He reportedly used a cocktail of testosterone, erythropoietin and blood transfusions throughout his legendary cycling career.

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Armstrong did an interview with CNBC last week during which he mentioned that an investment he'd made in a venture capital fund—which was invested in Uber—became a savior for Armstrong and his family. He said that the investment had been "too good to be true" and "saved our family."

Back in 2009, Armstrong invested $100,000 in Lowercase Capital, a venture capital fund started by Chris Sacca. One of that firm's investments was a brand new ride sharing startup called Uber Technologies, Inc. At the time Uber's valuation was $3.7 million. Of course, we all know what happened next. Uber took off like wildfire and its value soared. It recently filed confidential paperwork for an IPO. Uber's IPO could be one of the five biggest initial public offerings of all time. Bankers familiar with the company HOPE Uber will be worth $120 billion when it goes public.

So Lance must be worth billions right?

Unfortunately no.

According to insiders, people who invested in Lowercase fund have seen a return of 250 – 300 times their original investment. That makes Armstrong's initial investment worth as much as $30 million at the high end of that range. Once fees are deducted, it's likely that Armstrong's Uber stake has returned a total of $20 million.

Armstrong never claimed to be anything even close to a billionaire in the CNBC interview, for what it is worth. He said:

"I invested in Chris Sacca. I didn't even know he did Uber."

By our calculations, Lance Armstrong actually has a net worth of $50 million as of this writing.

Read more: NO. Lance Armstrong Is NOT A Billionaire From Uber