Two new private jets were recently unveiled to the world in Orlando, Florida courtesy of Brazilian company Embraer. They're the Praetor 500 and Praetor 600, two sequels to the company's earlier mid-size private jets the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500. Here's how Michael Amalfitano, president and CEO of Embraer Executive Jets described the two planes in a press statement:

"The Praetor 500 and Praetor 600 are the disruptive aircraft for the entrepreneur, for the pioneer, for the innovator."

Embraer

The smaller Praetor 500 will set entrepreneurs, pioneers, and innovators back at least $16,995,000, but for our purposes let's focus in on the Praetor 600 (pictured above), which carries an even larger base price of $20,995,000.

For that amount of money, you get an expanded range compared to the Praetor 600's Legacy 500 ancestor: 4,500 miles, according to Embraer. But you also get to travel in state of the art comfort and luxury, with one custom designed cabin, a $750,000 option known as "Bossa Nova." This cabin is said by Embraer's design chief Jay Beever to be inspired by the beaches in the company's home country of Brazil, with seat patterns nicked from the distinctive stone walkways on Rio de Janeiro's Ipanema beach, and carpets made of wool and silk that Beever says are "an abstract interpretation of the glowing light reflecting off the ripples in the ocean on a perfectly calm day."

For meals and snacks, the 600's eight to twelve passengers have access to retractable carbon fiber tables. But perhaps the best way to get a sense of what it would be like to travel on these jets from a few pictures of the cabin from Embraer.

Here's a good view of that "Bossa Nova" cabin:

Embraer

And here's a closer look at one of those nifty retractable tables:

Embraer

The name "Praetor" refers to an official title bestowed upon high level government officials back in the days of ancient Rome. According to Beever, this name was chosen as a way to convey the idea of these planes as the "ultimate servant" of their owners.

And here's a video:

Read more: Take A Look At Embraer's New $21 Million Luxury Private Jet

If you're like millions of Americans, you have a lottery ticket (or several) for tonight's Mega Millions jackpot. The current total lies at $1.6 billion, which is a hefty chunk of change. But you won't make nearly that much if you win – especially if you take the lump sum.

Should you grab all the cash at once, you'll get $904.9 million. After 40 percent goes to the federal government, you're left with $687.7 million.

Do you live in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, or Wyoming? Great! Your winnings won't be taxed by your state.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

If you're in the other 41 states, though, you'll lose even more to state income tax. Depending on where you'll live, state tax will drop your winnings to between $608 million and $658 million.

But wait, there's more: with all that money, you're now in the top tax rate, which is 37 percent. The federal withholding of 24 percent factors into that, but you'll still owe an additional 13 percent.

That'll put your winnings at $599 million if you live in one of the state-tax free states. If you live in New York, you'll win the smallest amount, at only $528 million.

So what can you score with those winnings? Here are a few ideas:

• You could sponsor the next ten Olympics.
• You could buy the LA Galaxy.
• You could buy a majority stake of the Tampa Bay Rays.
• You could pay the expansion fee of a new NHL team.
• You could also buy a handful of struggling teams, like the Arizona Coyotes or the Carolina Hurricanes.
• You could buy more than 100 Lamborghini Veneno Roadsters. You know, in case something happens to 99 of them.
• You could buy more than 4,000 private island lots. They're great for storing extra cars.
• You could purchase about 35 private helicopters for your personal use.
• You could get four tickets in Millionaire's Row at the Kentucky Derby for the next 1,375 years.
• You could eat somewhere in the neighborhood of 984 million chicken nuggets from Wendy's.

Read more: Here's What You Could Buy If You Win The $1.6 Billion Mega Millions Prize

Billionaires have the cash to purchase professional sports teams. Most millionaires do not have that kind of cash. They do, however, have the cash to buy race horses in the hopes that their horse will win some major cash prizes. Owning a Thoroughbred horse is the closest thing there is to owning a sports franchise without actually owning a sports franchise. Bob Elliston is the vice president of racing and sales at Lexington, Kentucky based Keeneland Racing. He oversees the annual Yearling Sale every September in which one-year-old Thoroughbred horses are auctioned off.  The sale lasts for 13 days with buyers hoping to get a champion race horse out of it. The 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify was bought from Keeneland Racing.

Billionaires and millionaires fly to Lexington from around the world in the hopes of scoring the next Justify—and they will pay $1 million or more on a Thoroughbred. In fact, 27 horses from this year's auction sold for $1 million or more.  Those seven figure horses were bought by 14 international buyers and 13 U.S. buyers, according to Elliston.

David Turnley/Getty Images

The highest price paid for a Thoroughbred yearling this year was $2.4 million, which sets a worldwide record so far. Three horses including the record setter sold for more than $2 million. About $377 million was spent on 3,000 yearlings at this year's auction. Yearlings are considered an investment opportunity, however, race horses have been a hobby of the rich for eons.

Equestrian show jumping is a sport that has always been associated with royalty and the offspring of billionaires such as Jennifer Gates, Eve Jobs, and Georgina Bloomberg. Prized horses for these events cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Additionally, the cost of caring for and maintaining these horses costs tens of thousands of dollars each month.

Polo is another horse based sport that has been a pastime of the upper class for generations. After all, it is known as the "sport of kings."

However, it is horse racing that attracts the rich to spend their money. The Kentucky Derby has been an event for the rich and famous since 1875. The horses sold at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale go to The Kentucky Derby to compete. Owners include Liberty Media's John Malone, chef Bobby Flay, socialite Peter Brandt, the Campbell Soup heirs, and a long list of ruling family members from the Middle East. Vice president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, bought 27 yearlings for nearly $20 million at this year's yearling sale. Seven of the horses the Sheikh bought went for more than $1 million. He is one of the world's biggest race horse owners. His brother Sheikh Hamdan spent more than $12 million on 19 horses this year.

The trick in buying race horses is will they or won't they become money making champions for their owners. Justify was bought for $500,000. After winning the 2018 Triple Crown, he is worth $75 million. Of course, the odds of buying the next Triple Crown winner are even slimmer than the chance of the Triple Crown being won in any given year. Barry Irwin is the horse racing syndicate Team Valor founder and CEO. He told CNBC that the chance of losing is 90% and that horse racing isn't a sport you should get involved in if you don't absolutely love it.

There are a number of things buyers can look for to increase their odds of buying a winning horse. Colts are worth more than fillies/mares. Buying more than one yearling at a sale gives the buyer better chances of winning. Having an above average pedigree can matter as well. For instance, former Kentucky Derby winner American Pharaoh had his first crop of colts and fillies for sale at this year's auction—47 of his sires sold for more than $19.5 million, for an average of $16,702.

A person could also choose to buy an older horse with a good history of racing, but they cost more. Yearlings are appealing because they haven't been in any trainer's hands yet.

This year's Yearling Sale saw the number of seven-figure yearlings sold more than double from last year. It was the fourth largest sale in the Keeneland Yearling Sale's 75 year history.

Read more: Billionaires Buy Sports Franchises. Millionaires Buy Race Horses.

Michael Jordan made about $94 million over the course of his career in the NBA, but that pales in comparison to the fortune he's amassed outside of his on-court earnings (nowadays, he makes more in one year from Nike royalties alone than he did during his whole NBA career). One of the few pro athletes to belong to the billionaire's club, he's got some of the most lucrative endorsement deals in the world of celebrity, and he reportedly still makes more than currently active NBA stars like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and even LeBron James, despite having been retired for 15 years.

So how does a guy like Michael Jordan decide to spend some of his $1.65 billion net worth? He's made some fairly high profile purchases that the public's been privy to over the years. Like in 2010, when he purchased the Charlotte Hornets basketball team for $275 million. That particular purchase has become an extremely good investment for Jordan, since the team is now reported to be worth over $1 billion – and MJ owns a good 90 percent of it.

Jordan Brand via Getty Images

Then there's his private jet. Unlike most private jets, Jordan's is decked out with his own personalized graphics, from its Carolina blue color scheme to his own universally recognized superhero-like "Jumpman" logo on the rear wing, plus his famous jersey number 23.

In Florida, he dropped $12.8 million on what he's described as his "dream house." Nearby, he reportedly decided to build his own private golf course, simply because he didn't like how slowly his fellow country club members were used to playing. The course is called Grove XXIII (there's 23 again), and it's currently slated to open sometime next year. Naturally, he also has his own Carolina blue golf cart, also emblazoned with the Jumpman.

Jordan owns another $2.8 million home near Charlotte, North Carolina, and he's trying to sell his mansion in Chicago, currently listed at just under $15 million. It's been on the market for six years, and Jordan is reported to have paid $680,000 in property taxes alone since originally putting it up for sale.

Some of Jordan's other big expenditures have been philanthropic in nature. He's gifted millions to 23 different children's charities exclusively from the proceeds of lawsuits he's won against companies using his likeness without permission. Then in 2016, he cut big checks to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the International Association of Chiefs of Police's Institute for Community-Police Relations, and earlier this year he gave $2 million to Hurricane Florence relief in his native North Carolina.

He has a small stake in the Miami Marlins baseball team, having reportedly invested with a group formed by Derek Jeter.

Of course, no informal account of MJ's spending would be complete without at least a mention of his legendary gambling habits. As Charles Barkley once explained in an interview with Dan Patrick, Jordan is known to gamble anywhere from a hundred bucks to hundreds of thousands of dollars on one of his favorite pastimes, golf:

"We'd be playing golf with certain people, and we'd be playing a couple hundred dollars a hole. And he'd be playing some guy for, like, a $100,000. He's, like, 'Charles, pick that up,' Barkley said, imitating Jordan. "I'm like, 'This putt is for $200.' 'Pick that up, Charles. Get out of my way. You're in my line.' I'd say, 'Well, how much is that putt for?' He'd say, '$300,000.' I'd say, 'Let me get out of your line.'"

It's impossible to know what Jordan's career gambling earnings might be, since he's known to be a ruthless bettor on anything and everything. But it is clear that as the richest professional athlete of all time, he can afford to throw it around.

Read more: How Michael Jordan Spends His $1.65 BILLION Net Worth

It has been said that the early bird gets the worm, but there may be a way to take that common sense knowledge to an absurd extreme. If so, Mark Wahlberg has done it, recently revealing on Instagram that his current daily workout routine necessitates waking up at 2:30 in the morning! Here's the rundown, courtesy of his recent Instagram Story on the subject:

2:30 a.m.: wake up

2:45 a.m. pray

3:15 a.m.: breakfast — "I start out with steel oats, peanut butter, blueberries and eggs for breakfast. Then I have a protein shake — Performance Inspired Nutrition Vanilla Latte Shake — three turkey burgers, five pieces of sweet potato."

3:40 to 5:15 a.m.: work out

5:30 a.m.: post-workout meal

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Wahlberg has also gone into detail on the rest of his eating habits on social media, and it may serve as some important inspiration for all the would-be big time eaters out there:

"At 8 o'clock, I have about 10 turkey meatballs. At 10:30, I have a grilled chicken salad with two hard-boiled eggs, olive, avocado, cucumber, tomato, lettuce. And then at 1 o'clock I have a New York steak with green peppers. Then at 3:30 I have grilled chicken with bok choy. Then at 5:30, 6 o'clock, I have a beautiful piece of halibut or a cod or sea bass. Some sort of white fish."

Obviously, the whole reason Wahlberg gets up at 2:30 AM is so he can fit his workout schedule into his otherwise busy acting schedule. As he explained in a Men's Health interview last year (when he was evidently getting an extra hour of sleep):

"If I wake up at 3:30, I can go to the golf course at 6:30, be done by 8:30, and then be home and then do the rest of my stuff: work with a physiotherapist, get treatment, hit the cryo chamber."

In between all that exercising and eating, he also has scheduled "family time" at 11 AM and 5:30 PM, plus picking his kids up at school in the afternoon. If it weren't for them, maybe he'd be able to swing waking up at sunrise.

Read more: Mark Wahlberg's Workout Routine Involves Waking Up At 2:30 AM

Floyd Mayweather last fought Conor McGregor more than a year ago. The "superfight" brought in hundreds of millions of dollars and seemed to set up Mayweather for life. The boxer retired with a 50-0 record and 27 knockouts.

But it seems like Mayweather may not be done just yet.

He's challenged UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, who recently called Mayweather out. Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor in UFC 229 and then turned his attention to Mayweather.

Mayweather is up for the challenge, though he says it'll have to be a boxing match, not a fight in the octagon.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

"He called me out. So, he gotta come to my world," Mayweather said.

The boxer also claimed he can make $100 million more than his fight with McGregor. Mayweather already took home nine figures from that bout, so he knows what it takes to produce a big payday.

In fact, a fight with Nurmagomedov would likely follow the blueprint Mayweather set up with McGregor. A whole lot of hype mixed with multiple sponsorships and endorsement deals equates to a massive amount of take-home pay.  

Mayweather also knows that he stands a better chance in a boxing match rather than braving the Octagon. Nurmagomedov is 11.5 years younger than Mayweather; getting outside of the Octagon levels the playing field.

While details of a potential fight are sparse, don't be surprised if we see the supposedly retired Mayweather back in the ring. After all, it's tough to turn down a potential nine-figure payday.

Read more: Floyd Mayweather Can Make Nine Figures From Fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov

One extremely lucky person in South Carolina is feeling pretty amazing today. Mega Millions just confirmed that a single ticket won last night's $1.537 billion jackpot. It's the second largest lottery jackpot of all time. So let's pretend for a moment that you are this extremely lucky South Carolinian. The big question you must answer today is this: Do you take the lump sum OR do you take annual payments? Historically, this question has had one extremely clear obvious answer… Take the lump sum. Yesterday in the comments area of a CelebrityNetWorth Facebook post, I repeated this advice to a number of lottery hopefuls. Turns out, the answer isn't as cut and dry as it used to be…

If you happen to be the lucky South Carolinian who won last night's $1.5 billion jackpot, your options to consider are:

• $878 million lump sum
• $53 million paid annually over 29 years

Seems like a simple decision right? $53*29 = $1.537 billion which is nearly twice as big as $878 million.

Why would someone agree to a nearly 50% cut? Because of something called the time value of money.

The time value of money is a fancy way of saying that, according to history, having money today is worth significantly more than having money in the future. In other words, you should be able to turn $878 million into significantly more than $1.5 billion over the next 30 years through some very basic low-risk investments. You could also lose every penny by putting the lump sum into complex high-risk investments.

So let me clarify: Based on the historical average return of the stock market in general, the lump sum option is ALWAYS the better option if you're disciplined enough to put the money in safe, passive, low-risk investments. A "passive" investment is something you don't need to think about ever, for example an ETF that tracks the entire stock market. If your plan is to convert all the money into Bitcoin or blow the cash in some other embarrassing way, go ahead and opt for the annual payments.

Here are some simple numbers to help illustrate why a lump sum passively invested can be an amazing option:

Option 1: After paying your taxes, you invest what's left in U.S. government treasuries. Just to keep it simple, let's say after taxes you'll have $450 million (if you live in a state that doesn't have a state income tax, your number will be a bit higher). Right now the government will pay you 3.85% annually for a 30-year treasury. Barring a nuclear war, this is an absolute sure bet.

With a treasury bond, you'll get a dividend payment twice a year. Simple. Risk-free. Direct deposit. Treasury bonds are not taxed at the state level, but they are taxed federally. With $450 million invested, the government will send you $8.66 million twice a year. That's $17.3 million per year.

If you reinvest all of your dividends, after 30 years the government will give you $1.4 billion. In other words, $450 million invested with compound interest over 30 years will eventually become $1.4 billion. If you do not reinvest your dividends, the government will simply pay you back $450 million in 30 years. It's really up to you. Ask yourself how much money you want to receive in 30 years vs. how much money do you need to live each year? Either way, your life will be pretty sweet. The government is essentially PAYING YOU $17 million per year to watch over your money.

Option 2: Take $450 million and put it in a passive Exchange Traded Fund ("ETF") that mirrors the S&P 500. With this option you buy one ETF that owns a little bit of every company in the S&P 500. Your investment will go up and down over the years with the fortunes of 500 of America's strongest businesses.

Why consider this option? Because historically the S&P 500's average annual return is 10%. When you account for inflation, it's 7%.

If you indeed got a 7% annual return on $450 million, in 30 years you will have $3.4 BILLION.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Just like with the treasuries example, $3.4 billion assumes you are reinvesting all of your dividends. This is unlikely because you'll need something to live off. But if you work with a financial planner it should be very easy to carve out whatever large annual income you want while continuing to reinvest.

Here's the catch with option 2: You have down years. Even worse, right now might be an especially bad time to go with the S&P. We're currently in the 10th year of a bull market and the S&P is near its all-time high. Historically, on average we have a huge market crash every seven years. So we're at our highest levels ever while also being three years overdue for a major crash.

If you buy today, there's a decent chance you'll actually see your principal go down significantly in the near term. In fact, there have been big chunks of time where it would have sucked to be a passive S&P 500 investor. For instance, the 15 year period between 1965 and 1980 was brutal. You would have lost HALF of your money. If you stayed in the market for the following 15 years, by 1995 you'd be back to where you were in 1965. Not exactly 7% per year.

To get a more educated opinion, today I called a friend who is a financial planner and, without even giving her my above options, I asked what she would do with a sudden $500 million windfall. Without hesitating, she replied:

"I'd invest it all in treasuries. Make $15 million a year risk free for doing nothing."

When I explained the two options I outlined above, she laughed at the idea of putting all of the money in the S&P for the exact reasons we mention above. Why risk the ups and downs of the stock market when the government is dying to pay you millions of dollars a year to babysit your fortune? Then, after thinking about it for another minute she changed her answer to:

"I'd still invest it all in treasuries, but I'd also go out and borrow $100 million from a bank and invest this chunk into the S&P. I'd let this $100m ride for the rest of my life which is hopefully 40-50 more years."

And one final point of clarification – There's a commonly held misunderstanding that if you take the annuity option and you die at some point before the 30 years are up, the payments stop. And for that reason, you should always take the lump sum. This is false. If a lotto winner getting annual payments dies, their payments continue for the duration. The money simply goes to that person's estate.

Read more: You Just Won The $1.6 Billion Jackpot – Should You Take A $900 Million Lump Sum Or Annual Payments Of $50 Million?

Gary Garland net worth: Gary Garland is an American singer and former professional basketball player who has a net worth of $5 million. Gary Garland was born in East Orange, New Jersey in October 1957. He was a 6'4″ guard who played at Clifford J. Scott High School and DePaul University. Garland was drafted #30 overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1979 NBA Draft. He only played one season in the NBA. He is better known for being the half-brother of Whitney Houston and the son of Cissy Houston. Gary Garland is also the uncle of Bobbi Kristina Brown. He was a backup singer for Whitney Houston's Greatest Love Tour in 1986 and continued to tour with her after that including for her Moment of Truth World Tour, I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour, The Bodyguard World Tour, Pacific Rim Tour, The European Tour, My Love Is Your Love World Tour, Soul Divas Tour, and Nothing But Love World Tour.

Read more: Gary Garland Net Worth

Jon Landau net worth: Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager, and record producer who has a net worth of $50 million. Jon Landau was born in May 1947. He has worked with several artists including Bruce Springsteen. Landau also serves as the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He started out writing for a music magazine called Crawdaddy and later wrote for Rolling Stone starting with the magazine's first issue. In 1974 he called Bruce Springsteen "rock and roll's future". Springsteen hired Jon Landau and he co-produced his studio albums starting with Born to Run in 1975 and ending with Human Touch and Lucky Town in 1992. Landau has also managed and/or produced for other artists including Jackson Browne, Train, Natalie Merchant, Shania Twain, and more. He has also written liner notes for albums by Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett. Landau was married to critic Janet Maslin.

Read more: Jon Landau Net Worth

Shun Love net worth: Shun Love is an American reality television personality and entertainment manager who has a net worth of $3 million. Shun Love is best known for appearing on the reality television series Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood. She debuted in season five of the show as a supporting cast member. Shun Love is the mother and manager of Amber Diamond who is a video vixen, rapper, singer, and model who appeared as Cisco's side chick. Amber Diamond joined Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood in season four as a guest and had a supporting role in season five. The series debuted on VH1 in 2014.

Read more: Shun Love Net Worth

Patrick Mahomes net worth and salary: Patrick Mahomes is an American professional football player who has a net worth of $10 million. Patrick Mahomes was born in Tyler, Texas in September 1995. He is a quarterback who played at Whitehouse High School where he also played baseball and basketball. Mahomes played his college football at Texas Tech where he was named Second-team All-Big 12 in 2106. He was drafted #10 overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. In college he set NCAA records for single-game yards passing with 734 and single-game yards total offense with 819 in the same game against Oklahoma in 2016. Mahomes became the Chiefs starting QB in 2018. He set NFL records for most touchdown passes thrown through first three career games, most touchdown passes thrown through first two games o fa season, most touchdown passes thrown through first three games of a season, and youngest quarterback to throw for six touchdowns in a game. In 2017 he signed a four year deal for $16.2 million with a $10 million signing bonus.

Read more: Patrick Mahomes Net Worth

Masayoshi Son is paying a high price for his close ties to Saudi Arabia and it appears it will soon be much higher. Son's SoftBank Group Corp. saw its shares plummet the most in more than two years on October 15^th after Saudi Arabia's involvement in the disappearance and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was revealed. Saudi Arabia is the biggest outside investor in the bank's $100 billion Vision Fund. The fund has backed Uber, WeWork, and Slack among others.

Officially, Saudi officials have adamantly denied any wrongdoing. However, Turkish authorities claims that the Washington Post journalist was murdered after entering a Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. is looking for an explanation and business leaders, including Uber's CEO have pulled out of Saudi Arabia's "Davos in the Desert" event.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia has ordered an investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi. President Donald Trump sent Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to the Kingdom while also suggesting that mysterious "rogue killers" might be behind the murder. Saudi Prince Mohammed has said that Khashoggi left the consulate building unharmed but offered no evidence to back up that statement.

TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

Masayoshi Son's problem is that his big vision for the fund depends on the $45 billion Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to the current vision fund and also promised a similar amount for the next fund. Those commitments are not only in question now, but SoftBank is also looking at a revolt in Silicon Valley if tech entrepreneurs see accepting backing from the Vision Fund as akin to taking blood money. If the Saudis are implicated in the torture, murder, and dismemberment of Khashoggi, investors may not be willing to take the Vision Fund's money.

Prior to Monday, October 15^th, SoftBank shares were up 29% this year thanks to the confidence of investors in Son's ambitions investments in technology startups across the globe. Since September 28^th, the stock is off 20%. On Monday alone, shares dropped 7.3%. Shares hit a month long high of $50.22 on October 1^st. As of this writing shares of SoftBank are trading at $43.44.

On Monday, senior strategist Amir Anvarzadeh with Singapore's Asymmetric Advisors removed SoftBank from his list of recommended stocks to buy. He noted the risks of the Saudi controversy as a reason for removing Softbank.

SoftBank could see its reputation take a hit with tech startups if the Saudi regime is deemed responsible for Khashoggi's violent death. As a rule, tech founders are trying to make the world a better place. That outlook is at odds with the Saudi regime.

Son has made investments in upcoming startups for decades—going all the way back to early stakes in Yahoo and Alibaba. He stepped up his game last year with the Vision Fund and invested in some of the world's most prominent startups.

Silicon Valley founders will be paying close attention to how Son and SoftBank handle the Saudi situation. Do his loyalties lie with entrepreneurs and his commitment to startups or with the Saudi money that makes that possible in part?

Read more: SoftBank Sees Big Drop After Saudi Murder Of Journalist

MailChimp's founders didn't set out to build the world's leading email marketing company. When Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius launched MailChimp back in 2001, they were just trying to help the customers of their web design business. Chestnut and Kurzius's customers wanted an easier way to send out emails marketing their product or business. Chestnut dug up some old code he'd written for an earlier product. That discarded code became the starting point for the MailChimp email marketing service. Now, Chestnut and Kurzius have hit the list of the richest Americans for the first time since they launched MailChimp 17 years ago. Each have a net worth of $2.1 billion.

MailChimp remained a side project for Chestnut and Kurzius for years. Then, in 2007, they decided to close their web design business to focus on MailChimp. They had come to the conclusion that web design wasn't their passion. Helping small businesses grow was their passion. That said, email marketing wasn't the best thing to get into in 2007. For one thing, spam emails reached unprecedented levels that year. One study found that 95% of all of the emails sent in 2007 were spam. Also, companies that were better funded—such as Constant Contact, which raised $107 million in its October 2007 IPO—were already dominating email marketing. Nevertheless, they pushed on.

Photo via Flickr user Mike Schinkel/Wikimedia Commons

Ben Chestnut grew up in the small town of Hephzibah, Georgia, population 3,900. Thai Buddhists were not in great quantities in the small southern town. His father was an Army code breaker who had been sent to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He met Ben's mother, a Thai cook, in Bangkok. The couple moved to the U.S. bringing two of Ben's mom's four kids from a prior marriage with them. Chestnut's dad taught on base at Fort Gordon. His mom set up a hair salon in the family's kitchen.

Ben grew up as one of the few Asians at his mostly white school. He was bullied for looking different, so he took karate lessons. It was during a karate class in high school that he met Teresa Urch, who would later become his wife. He studied at the University of Georgia and the Georgia Institute of Technology. After college, Chestnut went to work for the Cox Media Group in Atlanta in the late 90s. He was working on an early MP3 service for the cable giant. He needed a coder and a friend recommended Dan Kurzius, a sometimes DJ who was working in real estate. Kurzius thought it was a music related job. He programmed DJ sets. He didn't know how to program computers. So, he taught himself how to code and became Chestnut's partner.

Kurzius grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His father ran a small bakery-deli that was eventually forced out of business by a big bakery chain. The stress of that failure led his father to have a fatal heart attack when Kurzius was 12 years old.

Cox's MP3 business didn't thrive, and Chestnut was laid off in 2000. He started Rocket Science Group, which was focused on web design. He later brought Kurzius into the business along with a tech guy named Mark Anderson who had gone to college with Chestnut. At first, the trio focused on selling web design packages to tech companies. Then the tech bubble burst (the first time). They started focusing on selling their product to travel agents and airlines. Then 9/11 happened. So, they pivoted to real estate. Fortunately for Chestnut, his wife's job as a pediatric nurse was able to sustain Chestnut and their two sons. Kurzius was also married with two daughters – his family scraped by. In 2008, Chestnut and Kurzius bought out Armstrong.

Chestnut and Kurzius found that they hated selling – especially to the Deltas and Coca-Colas and other enormous corporations that were based in Atlanta. They could only relate to small businesses. Those small businesses were always asking for email marketing.

That's when Chestnut remembered that old code from the digital greeting card business. He pulled out that code, freshened it up, and began telling their smaller customers about it. By 2006, the checks from this side project of email marketing were trickling in $10,000 and $20,000 at a time. Chestnut and Kurzius decided to make email marketing their main business. They called it MailChimp.

Chestnut and Kurzius didn't go out looking for investors. This is something Chestnut says was more due to ignorance. They'd just barely survived the dot-com bust and having seen super successful companies fail (Pets.com anyone?). They didn't understand financing. Then Constant Contact had their IPO in 2007 and venture capitalists began knocking on MailChimp's door. By not taking VC money, Chestnut and Kurzius were able to keep focusing on small businesses. Investors wanted them to turn their business into enterprise software.

The critical decision that became the tipping point for MailChimp was in 2009 when Chestnut decided to give their email marketing product away for free. The freemium plan directly tied the company's bottom line into the success of its small business's campaign successes. It worked. When they started, MailChimp had a few hundred thousand customers. Within a year, it was a million. A year later, it was two million.

MailChimp is still free if you are emailing 1,999 people or less. Once you hit the 2,000 recipient mark or want to send more than $12,000 emails a month, then MailChimp charges $10 a month.

Email marketing isn't the shiny new product on the block, but it is the steady one that works. In 2017, U.S. businesses spent $2.8 billion on email marketing. For one thing it is cheaper and has more return on investment than Google paid search results and Facebook ads.

Today, MailChimp is one of the most successful small businesses in the U.S. Except is isn't exactly small. MailChimp has 700 employees, 16 million customers, and 14,000 more who sign up for it every day. MailChimp is profitable, still completely owned by co-founders Chestnut and Kurzius, and is growing by $120 million each year. In 2017, MailChimp was on track to do $525 million in revenue and its co-founders are billionaires

Read more: Mail Chimp Founders Make Billionaires List After 17 Years

In 2016, a mansion at the end of Sweetwater Mesa Road in Malibu sold for more than $30 million. This seemed to bring to an end a period of years of intrigue involving the former owner, Teodoro Nguema Obiang, the playboy son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich African nation. The sale of the mansion was part of a money laundering case against Mangue, brought by the U.S., Switzerland, and France. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Obiang of money laundering and seized 28 rare cars, a Gulfstream Jet, and his $30 million Malibu mansion. Obiang is also charged with plundering his country of the proceeds of oil and natural gas sales to buy a luxury jet and amass a fortune of more than $100 million.

But back to the Malibu mansion. When the mansion was sold, Mauricio Umansky, husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Kyle Richards, brokered the deal. He is now accused of selling the mansion for millions less than it was worth. It is believed that he had teamed up with the winning bidder to flip the property less than a year later for nearly $70 million.

(Maricio Umansky on right) Jason Kempin/Getty Images

If the allegations are true, it means that Umansky deprived charities in the Central African nation of Equatorial Guinea out of millions of dollars that they should have received as part of a deal between Obiang and the Justice Department.

Obiang bought the property in 2006. He agreed to sell the Malibu property in 2014 and give $10.3 million of the proceeds to U.S. officials and the rest to charities benefiting the people of Obiang's native country.

In 2015, Obiang and the U.S. government chose Umansky to sell the mansion. Obiang insisted that the property not be advertised, and that the sale happen quickly. Umansky got five offers and Obiang chose a $33.5 million bid from luxury property developer Mauricio Oberfeld. Oberfeld purchased the house for $32.5 million in 2016 after asking the price to be lowered to cover repairs needed. He then spent millions on renovations and sold the house nine months later for $69.9 million – more than double what he paid for it.

The kicker is that Oberfeld had a partner in the flip: Umansky. The two are longtime business associates. Umansky invested in the property with Oberfeld. Obiang is now calling foul because Umansky did not disclose his involvement in the deal until just before the deal closed.

Obiang is alleging that Umansky used his position as both broker and buyer to get a deal that favored him. Obiang is also saying that Umansky pushed the deal from Oberfeld despite another offer coming in that was $8 million higher.

It is unclear why Obiang is contesting the deal, given that he was not to receive any of the proceeds of the sale.

At the center of the dispute is that $8 million higher offer from real estate investor Sam Hakim. Obiang and Western World allege that Umansky never told them or the U.S. government about the higher offer. Umansky's attorney said that the offer wasn't serious enough to need to be disclosed.

Umansky and his real estate firm The Agency turned to their insurer, Western World, to pay for their legal defense. The insurer sided with Obiang and sued Umansky and The Agency in June.

The mansion is now owned by a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Read more: The Crazy Story Of A $30 Million Malibu Mansion, A Real Housewife's Husband, And The Son Of The President of Equatorial Guinea

As billionaires go, Warren Buffett has grown famous for the frugal, anything-but-lavish lifestyle he leads. That means that there aren't too many fireworks in an article like this one, but it can still be interesting to see how one of the richest people in history does choose to spend his money.

You can see Buffett's attitude towards spending starting with the house he lives in. It's a comfortable but relatively modest Omaha home he reportedly bought way back in 1958 for about $31,000. Today, it's estimated to be worth about $650,000, and it's still the only primary home he owns despite having a net worth of more than $86 billion.

He has allowed himself a Laguna Beach, California vacation home, though. He bought it in 1971 for $150,000, but he's evidently got no more use for it, since he's selling it for a little under $8 million.

In 2014, he splurged on a new $45,000 Cadillac XTS, which he bought to replace his previous car, a 2006 Cadillac DTS. Famously, he still uses a flip phone, and he claims to favor regular haircuts at just $18 a pop.

Buffett's dining habits reflect this almost perverse obsession with an everyman lifestyle. He claims to eat a McDonald's breakfast every day, usually spending about $3.18 on his order. Then there's his Coca Cola habit – he says he drinks about five Cokes a day, which is probably a little more than the average person but still basically affordable.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Once at a Q&A, Buffett explained why despite his billions he doesn't belong to any ultra-exclusive country clubs:

"I'm a member of every golf club that I want to be a member of […] I'd rather play golf here with people I like than at the fanciest golf course in the world."

Besides golf, his other most loved hobby is an extremely cheap one: He's a devoted bridge player, devoting about 12 hours a week to the game (all that costs money-wise is what you pay for the cards and the table!). His main other leisure activity is reading, he says he spends about 80 percent of the day chipping away at the "disgusting pile" of unread books in his home.

At one point, Buffett told CNBC that "the only thing that I do that costs a lot of money" was the ownership of his private jet.

It's said that 99 percent of Buffett's net worth is directly tied to his Berkshire Hathaway firm, and that he continually invests the remaining one percent. He's purchased stock in companies like Wells Fargo, Seritage Growth Properties, JPMorgan, and more. But it's his prolific philanthropy that tends to get the most headlines, having given an estimated $46 billion to various causes since 2000. Of course, that doesn't count the many billions more in giving he's encouraged through his famous Giving Pledge, started in conjunction with Bill and Melinda Gates. He repeatedly claims to want to give away virtually all of his net worth to charity when he dies, however he is reserving $2 billion each for his three kids: "Enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing." It's a somewhat surprising attitude for someone of Buffett's spending habits to think that $2 billion isn't more than enough to do nothing!

As you might expect, Buffett has expressed no regrets at the way he's chosen to spend, and not spend, his money. In a CNBC interview, he once put it like this:

"My life couldn't be happier. In fact, it'd be worse if I had six or eight houses. So, I have everything I need to have, and I don't need any more because it doesn't make a difference after a point."

So next time you're at a McDonald's in Omaha, Nebraska, you might see Warren Buffett treating his friend Bill Gates to lunch — and paying for his order with a coupon.

Read more: Warren Buffett: How The Famously Frugal Billionaire Spends His Money

After a disastrous tenure at NBC, Megyn Kelly is now fired. She lost her job after making some seriously boneheaded comments on her show two days ago. On the episode, while speaking to an all-white panel, Megyn defended the concept of wearing blackface as a Halloween costume. She basically said she didn't think it was racist and feels that anyone should be able to wear blackface as long as it was a character.

The comments drew immediate backlash across social media and, perhaps more importantly, her bosses and colleagues at NBC. On her show the next day (yesterday) Megyn issued an apology and then welcomed two black panelists to discuss the horrific and absolutely offensive history of wearing blackface.

It wasn't enough.

NBC reportedly fired Megyn just moments ago.

Her firing ends a disastrous one-year experiment marked by terrible ratings and huge financial losses for NBC. Megyn is barely one year into a massive three-year contract, and she was arguably fired for cause. So will she get paid the remaining tens of millions that she is owed? And while we're at it, what is Megyn Kelly's net worth and salary?

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

Megyn's salary and contract:

Before Megyn made the jump to NBC, she was earning $8 million a year at Fox. Executives at Fox were desperate to keep her since they had just recently lost another big name prime-time anchor, Bill O'Reilly, due to a sexual harassment scandal. Fox supposedly offered Megyn $30 million a year to stay at Fox but she declined to start fresh at NBC.

At NBC, Megyn signed a three-year $69 million contract. That's $23 million in annual salary. We estimate her net worth currently at $30 million, though that number is from when we were factoring in the assumption that she would earn the full amount of the NBC contract.

With the jump to NBC, Megyn would no longer be an evening news host, she would transition to hosting a morning talk show called "Megyn Kelly Today". She would also have a Sunday show called "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly".

At Fox News, Megyn's no-nonsense, just-the-facts, ruthless demeanor was an asset. It actually made her a breakout star at the conservative network. At NBC she would need to be friendlier, peppier, warmer… It quickly became clear that this attitude shift was not going to work.

When it was on, Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly, was a disaster in the ratings department. The show was frequently beaten by re-runs of 60 Minutes on CBS. The show was canceled after just 8 episodes. Towards the end, the show was routinely beaten by many cable programs with fewer than 3 million people tuning in. Audiences were equally unexcited about Megyn Kelly Today. The audience quickly dipped 30% from it's debut and has slowly tanked each month.

Extremely High Stakes

The stakes were very high for Megyn. Not only was she EXTREMELY expensive in terms of salary, her show was extremely expensive for NBC.

Consider this –

Before Megyn Kelly, NBC would air The Today Show from 7am to 9am. From 9-10am there was essentially a third hour of The Today Show featuring the B-Squad hosts talking about fluffier topics. From 10-11am, NBC would cut to "Kathie Lee And Hoda", an almost entirely entertainment based fourth hour program.

This is key: All three of those shows, from 9-11am, were filmed in one room with same crew and no studio audience. The production costs were minimal. Furthermore, NBC has long had a policy against having sponsored integration in a news-focused program like The Today Show. But since those last two hours of programming were entertainment-based, they sold sponsorships all day long. For example, they could do a segment sponsored by Eureka vacuums where the hosts talked about why Eureaka vacuums were so awesome.

Enter Megyn Kelly Today. Three big problems:

#1: First off, Megyn's show was filmed in a custom studio across town with a full studio audience and its own crew. Not only did this studio cost $10 million to build from scratch, they had spent millions every year in production costs that didn't previously existed.

#2: Megyn's show was news-based so it could not accept sponsored integrations. NBC lost a full hour of potential sales opportunities.

#3: Megyn's ratings proved to be so bad that her show dragged down the entire NBC afternoon lineup. Ratings of Kathie Lee & Hoda tanked right along with Megyn Kelly.

This morning an anonymous NBC news executive told the Daily Mail the following:

"They gave her the $69 million and all she has delivered is scandal after scandal. Add production costs and they are responsible for a $100 million shitshow at 9am every morning. Her limited tenure here has been an embarrassing joke."

What Happens To Megyn's Contract?

It's unclear if NBC will be able to get out of paying Megyn for "cause" or some other violation of her contract. Even if they had an out, it's unclear if they would take it. NBC knows that some network out there would jump at the chance to hire Megyn. Though, she'll have to negotiate any new contract with new representatives because she just dropped from her talent agency CAA.

Let's say Megyn has $46 million left on her contract. Would NBC rather save $46 million and cut her loose to be picked right back up by another network? Or will they try to find something else with the NBC family of channels (Bravo, for example) where they can ride out her contract and get something for their money?

Stay tuned as we continue researching this breaking news story!

Read more: Megyn Kelly Net Worth And Salary: Will The Fired NBC Host Get Paid Her Full $69 Million NBC Contract?

Randall L. Stephenson net worth and salary: Randall L. Stephenson is an American telecommunications executive who has a net worth of $140 million. Randall L. Stephenson was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in April 1960. He began serving as the chairman, chief executive officer, and president of AT&T Inc. in 2007. From 2016 to 2018 he served as the 36^th President of the Boy Scouts of America. Randall L. Stephenson graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma and earned his MA from the University of Oklahoma. He worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone and then was mentored by Carlos Slim at Telefonos de Mexico. He became chief financial officer for SBC in 2001 and served as chairman of the board of directors for Cingular Wireless before being named chief operating officer of SBC and serving on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee under President Bush. In 2016 he was named CEO of the Year by Chief Executive magazine.

Randall L. Stephenson salary: Between 2008 and 2019, Randall was paid a total of $81 million in total compensation. Between 2012 and 2018, he earned on average $28 million per year. As of 2018, he has earned $250 million from AT&T.

Read more: Randall L. Stephenson Net Worth

Television is big business these day – more than ever, really. Between the traditional networks, cable, and streaming there are more ways to get quality content than ever before. As a result, networks are shelling out big bucks to bring big Hollywood stars to the small screen. From Nicole Kidman and Kevin Costner to Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon -big screen names are crossing over to the small screen more frequently.

These big names bring big audiences to shows. With the competition between not just networks, cable and streaming – but producers and production companies – TV salaries are soaring. In fact, just this week it was reported that the starts of HBO's Westworld were getting big raises for the third season.

Big Little Lies' Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, and the cast of The Big Bang Theory all make $1 million an episode for their efforts.

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Below are the highest TV salaries of the year.

This Is Us (NBC)
$250,000 — Milo Ventimiglia
$250,000 — Mandy Moore
$250,000 — Sterling K. Brown
$250,000 — Chrissy Metz
$250,000 — Justin Hartley

Westworld (HBO)
$250,000 — Evan Rachel Wood

$250,000 — Ed Harris

$250,000 — Jeffrey Wright

$250,000 — Thandie Newton

Homeland (Showtime)
$450,000 — Claire Danes

Yellowstone (Paramount Network)
$500,000 — Kevin Costner

Game Of Thrones (HBO)
$500,000 — Kit Harington
$500,000 — Emilia Clarke
$500,000 — Peter Dinklage
$500,000 — Lena Headey
$500,000 — Nikolaj Coster-Waldeau

NCIS (CBS)
$525,000 — Mark Harmon

Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
$575,000 — Ellen Pompeo

Ballers (HBO)
$650,000 – Dwayne Johnson

The Walking Dead (AMC)
$650,000 – Norman Reedus

The Nix (Network TBA)
$825,000 – Meryl Streep

Big Bang Theory (CBS)
$1,000,000 — Jim Parsons
$1,000,000 — Kaley Cuoco
$1,000,000 — Johnny Galecki

Big Little Lies (HBO)
$1,000,000 — Nicole Kidman
$1,000,000 — Reese Witherspoon

Read more: From This Is Us To Big Little Lies: The Highest TV Salaries Of The Year

Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin recently tied the knot after a whirlwind courtship. Justin is just 24 years old and Hailey is 21 years old. They did not have a pre nup before they got hitched. That's not great news for Bieber who has a net worth of $265 million. The simple fact of the matter is that the odds are stacked against their long term success. Marriage is hard enough, let alone when you are so young. By contrast, Hailey Baldwin has done some modeling and acting and has a famous dad. Her net worth is $2 million. Should the two hit a rough spot and call it quits, Bieber's fortune is at risk.

Bieber and Baldwin aren't the only famous couple to skip the pre nup. In some cases, the wealthier spouse ended up forfeiting their fortune. In other cases, the divorce and settlement were more amicable. Below are eight celebrity couples that decided to skip the pre nup and hope for the best.

Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe
When Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe got married in 1999 they were 23 and 24 years old and rising stars. However, it turns out that Reese went on to be a major movie star and Ryan… not so much. Reese won an Oscar for Walk the Line, which boosted her per movie payday to $20 million. Meanwhile, Ryan's per-movie rate was stuck around $2.5 million. They filed for divorce in 2005 and Phillippe got half of Reese's money. You'd think that would have taught Reese a lesson but when she married talent agent Jim Toth in 2011, she once again did not have a pre nup.

Katy Perry and Russell Brand
Katy Perry and Russell Brand got married in 2010 after about a year together. They had a lavish ceremony in India but no pre-nup. Brand filed for divorce 14 months later and he could have walked away with half of Katy's sizable fortune. He didn't however. He signed the $6.5 million house they bought together over to her and walked away.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie
Madonna married film director Guy Ritchie in 2000 without a pre nup despite her vast fortune. Eight years later, they divorced and that cost Madonna about $92 million, despite Ritchie being a multi-millionaire in his own right.

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
When Jessica Simpson married Nick Lachey in 2002 she was 22, innocent, and a virgin. She couldn't even conceive of a world in which she would get divorced. However, a few years later, that is exactly what happened. They filed for divorce and at the time Jessica had about a $35 million fortune. She offered Nick $1.5 million but he held out for more and ended up getting it.

Kelsey and Camille Grammer
At the end of Frasier's 11-year run, Kelsey Grammer was making $1.6 million per episode. However, according to his third wife Camille, he was not good with money. She filed for divorce in 2010 after 13 years of marriage and went after half of Grammer's then $120 million fortune. As they had no pre nup, he couldn't stop her. When Camille met Kelsey he was broke and a drug addict. She helped him clean up his act. Kelsey remarried two weeks after his divorce was final.

Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold
When Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold got married in 1990 they opted not to have a pre nup. That was bad news for Roseanne. When they divorced in 1994, Tom Arnold walked away with $50 million of Roseanne's net worth.

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills
Sir Paul married model Heather Mills in 2002. The wedding cost $3.2 million. Everyone urged him to sign a pre nup. He did not. After all, he'd been married for 29 years and that only ended because his wife died. When McCartney and Mills divorced, she went after a huge chunk of his fortune. She ended up being awarded less than she asked for but still got $35 million for six years of marriage. McCartney remarried in 2011, once again without a pre nup.

Jennifer Lopez and Cris Judd
JLo married back up dancer Cris Judd in 2001 fresh off her three year relationship with P Diddy. She did not have a pre nup and when she and Judd divorced just nine months later, he ended up getting $15 million of Lopez's money. When she married Marc Anthony, she once again skipped the pre nup.

Read more: Famous Couples Who Married Without A Pre Nup

In current American pop cultural parlance, being the "Walt Disney of" anything is generally considered the highest of compliments. It's one that was recently bestowed upon developer Rick Caruso, whom it calls "the Walt Disney of retail" for his enormous success in that field and his seemingly keen instincts for where people want to shop. He sums up his core philosophy on the business like this:

"If you provide something that is unique and relevant, in a setting that people find captivating, you will do well. Retail has gotten sideways because it became the commodity. It is not about being high tech; it is about understanding what your customer wants."

Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Caruso is the man behind The Grove, a massive, 575,000-square-foot shopping center located in his native Los Angeles. Last year it saw an estimated 20 million visitors, which Forbes points out is more than Disneyland or the Great Wall of China. And it may not charge admission like Disney does but it is nevertheless extremely profitable, with an average of $2,200 in annual sales per square foot, and a waiting list for prospective merchants that's booked solid for three years at a time when most shopping malls in America are desperate to fill space.

Taking the Disney comparison even further is Caruso's attention to detail in the designs of The Grove and the nine other LA shopping centers in Caruso's stable. Take a look at this distinctively Disney-like detail: Throughout these ten properties, Caruso has arranged hidden likenesses of his four kids.

In an age when conventional wisdom suggests that brick-and-mortar shopping is doomed thanks to online retail, Caruso has built a $4 billion fortune going in the opposite direction. He even says that Amazon is "great for his business," and that he seeks to understand his own clientele as well as Amazon is able to understand theirs.

One particularly keen example of this philosophy can be found in Caruso's response to Sophie Herron, a seven-year-old girl who lives in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of LA. When she found out her favorite Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop was closing down, she started a petition to save it. It failed, but when Caruso saw it he immediately took steps to open up a new McConnell's Fine Ice Creams at his nearby Palisades Village mall.

As for what's next, Caruso says he's "seriously considering" running for mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, something not even Walt Disney himself ever managed to do.

Read more: How Rick Caruso – AKA "The Walt Disney Of Retail" – Earned $4 BILLION Building Malls