For years a story floated around that George Clooney gifted $1 million to 14 of his closest friends. Now, Clooney has confirmed that story is true.
The 59-year-old actor confirmed that yes, he did gift $1 million each to 14 of his closest friends in 2013 as a token of appreciation for all they’ve done for him.
Speaking with GQ magazine, Clooney told his version of the story.
“I just thought basically if I get hit by a bus, they’re all in the will. So why the f–k am I waiting to get hit by a bus?”
Clooney’s bestie and Casamigos business partner, Rande Gerber, was the first one to spill the news when appearing on MSNBC. He said that the Oscar winner invited all his friends over for dinner one night and handed them a suitcase, each containing $1 million in cash.
“And I thought, what I do have are these guys who’ve all, over a period of 35 years, helped me in one way or another,” he explained. “I’ve slept on their couches when I was broke. They loaned me money when I was broke. They helped me when I needed help over the years. And I’ve helped them over the years… And I thought, you know, without them I don’t have any of this.”
Clooney even delivered the money to his friends in true, movie star style.
Clooney wanted to give his friends cash and you can’t just roll up to a bank and take out $14 million in cash – easily anyway.
So, Clooney caught wind of a place in Los Angeles that offers pallets full of cash. So the Ocean’s Eleven star pulled a move straight out of the famous heist movie he once starred in – sort of.
Clooney rented a van (which of course said ‘Florist’ on the side), loaded it up $14 million in cash and headed home to load 14 Tumi duffle bags with $1 million each.
He then invited the lucky 14 friends over to his house. And after a little speech, letting his friends know just how much they mean to him and how much he appreciates their support over the years – Clooney stated he didn’t know how to pay them back, but a million dollars in cash should do!
Talk about an awesome gesture!
Clooney also spoke about how he always wanted to become insanely rich. Which he of course did. But he wanted to be super rich and he felt the only way to do that was to create a Tequila company and sell it off for a billion dollars. He also did just that.
In 2019, Clooney had an estimated net worth of $500 million.