A Hollywood Superstar can get over 20 million a picture and 10% of the gross. You do a couple big pictures a year you could be making between 60-100 million a year at your peak.
A Baseball Superstar can get over 20 million a year plus endorsements, etc. I'm guessing they can bring in 20-50 million a year at their peak.
Now, the Big Studios and Baseball Club Owners have to be making more than 50 times that amount to be able to offer it. Yet the Superstar takes most of the flack for being greedy. The Snifter Holding Big Money boys stay hidden in the shadows pulling strings. But some of these Snifters have started their own public campaigns to turn themselves into Superstars so they can get the cashflow from both ends. But, there is even a larger, Mega Snifter pulling strings for them.
The Cult of Celebrity and The Cult of the Rich both excites and angers the people. But these cults are here to stay unless something radical happens.
My son wants to be a major league ball player. Everything for him is baseball. He told me he would be willing to play for a big league team for just 10 dollars a year even if he was a better hitter than Mr. Bonds. I told him that was way below minimum wage. He said that the amount of people talking about him working for 10 dollars a year while everybody else was making 20 million had to be worth something. Yeah. Probably even bigger money. I asked him what he would do with all that money. He said open museums and schools for people. I suddenly felt both relieved and proud. It always comes back to Plato and his idea of the Benevolent Ruler. Greed and Power has always been there. It's not going away. Today, we need more Noble Snifters to balance the Ignoble Snifters. Maybe, my son's generation will balance the scale for humanity.