How Louis CK Is Spending That Money

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How is Louis CK spending the money he made selling DRM-free videos? Just like you'd imagine he would...giving his staff a bonus, giving money to charity and so on. I really like this guy. :)

So I'm breaking the million into four pieces.

  • The first 250k is going to pay back what the special cost to produce and the website to build.
  • The second 250k is going back to my staff and the people who work for me on the special and on my show. I'm giving them a big fat bonus.
  • The third 280k is going to a few different charities. They are listed below in case you'd like to donate to them also. Some of these i learned about through friends, some were reccomended through twitter.
  • That leaves me with 220k for myself. Some of that will pay my rent and will care for my childen. The rest I will do terrible, horrible things with and none of that is any of your business. In any case, to me, 220k is enough out of a million.
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Louis CK is the funniest guy ever...

Lucky Louie, on HBO nailed marriage and family life like no other show... I cringed and laughed half the time because I could relate to everything he did....
 
Best $5 I've ever spent. Definitely edged out all the humble bundles I've purchased lol. I hope he starts a trend and encourages other comedians to do this... I would buy a LOT more comedy specials like this instead of waiting for them to come out on Netflix.
 
hierovision said:
Best $5 I've ever spent. Definitely edged out all the humble bundles I've purchased lol. I hope he starts a trend and encourages other comedians to do this... I would buy a LOT more comedy specials like this instead of waiting for them to come out on Netflix.
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Comon Lewis Black!
 
What he didn't account for the IRS getting wind of his enterprise and taxing him to shut down status.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
What he didn't account for the IRS getting wind of his enterprise and taxing him to shut down status.
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I wish the -rolleyes- icon came in a 50 point font, for such a dumb comment

it's too bad all I can hand out is this one :rolleyes:
 
Good to see that he's continuing to be open with all of this.

Also, anyone else notice the amount of claims he has?
 
Dr. Righteous said:
What he didn't account for the IRS getting wind of his enterprise and taxing him to shut down status.
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Sure, bring reality into the equation Captain Buzzkill.

CK ftw!

Nice to see a person handle fame and success in such a positive way.
 
Louis CK, Lewis Black and Bill Burr are my top 3 Comics, the stand up they all do is hilarious and all based in truth.
 
aardvark sandwich said:
enjoy your taxes lol
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He's definitely not paying tax on the entire $1M. Depending on how he's organized, at least half of that won't count as income, and the charitable contributions will help reduce his final tax burden as well.
 
I can't imagined how badly he will be taxed, as he donated a good portion of it. That's tax deductible.

Maybe someone here that's in finance can throw some numbers.
 
Homey better withold 35% of that million for taxes...Then make his guesstimates on how much he is going to give away.
 
Kahnvex said:
I wish the -rolleyes- icon came in a 50 point font, for such a dumb comment

it's too bad all I can hand out is this one :rolleyes:
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Considering the last sentence in the piece ("In any case, to me, 220k is enough out of a million.") is a thinly veiled "tax the rich more because they don't need it" and Louis CK (who is indeed the funniest comedian currently working) is openly and admittedly becoming more overtly political (see his latest interview on NPR), the "dumb" comment you deride is actually spot on.

Someone like Louis CK is of course free to do whatever he wants with his money. And the way he divvied it up is indeed admirable. But that's the non-obvious point here, that money is being distributed by him. Were it being distributed by our federal (and to a lesser degree, state) goverment, a huge proportion (majority!) of it would have gone entirely to waste either through being absorbed into the bureaucracy or what's then left over going to some nonsensical/outdated/obsolete/obscure program.

Also, (though this would actually support the subtext of millionaires/billionaires needing to be taxed more), I can imagine that Louis CK is already a millionaire several times over. So judging what he does with an additional million dollars isn't quite the same as judging what a small businessman or someone who inherits their father/mother's life savings should do with windfalls.

--H
 
wiseoracle said:
I can't imagined how badly he will be taxed, as he donated a good portion of it. That's tax deductible.

Maybe someone here that's in finance can throw some numbers.
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People don't seem to understand the difference between revenue and profit.
 
Oldie said:
People don't seem to understand the difference between revenue and profit.
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Exactly. The first two items are for his job. So he isn't a millionair anymore. His company just got 500K richer, but half of that was work related expenses. Then his payroll took the other half.

The charities are all write offs.

So he only personaly made 220K. And that is less than the "250K" for being a rich person. Right? So his personal tax will only be on the 220K.
 
worstpe said:
Exactly. The first two items are for his job. So he isn't a millionair anymore. His company just got 500K richer, but half of that was work related expenses. Then his payroll took the other half.

The charities are all write offs.

So he only personaly made 220K. And that is less than the "250K" for being a rich person. Right? So his personal tax will only be on the 220K.
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I dont follow Louis CK, but I'm making an assumption that this download content is not the only source of income this year; so I stress again, enjoy the taxes. Its probably going to be a headache.
 
aardvark sandwich said:
I dont follow Louis CK, but I'm making an assumption that this download content is not the only source of income this year; so I stress again, enjoy the taxes. Its probably going to be a headache.
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He'll only have to pay the tax on the portion he's keeping though. He'll fill out a schedule C - self employed/business income. The amount spent to make it is an expenditure - not income (it is an income tax afterall), money donated to charity is tax free, money given as bonuses to employees is another business expenditure, end result is he'll be paying taxes on the actual amount he kept which is $220k.
 
I wonder how he distributed all those prior millions he has earned when there wasn't all this public scrutiny as he earned them.

Don't get me wrong. I like the guy and love his comedy (though you have to be a bit willfully obtuse to buy into some of the ideology behind it, like when someone asks what happened to a homeless guy and his answer is: "America happened." As though there isn't crushing poverty in the rest of the world doesn't doesn't operate under the "American system").

But, again, I don't think it's a coincidence that he divided up the money this way and that there was all this media scrutiny on him making this revenue in this way. I sincerely doubt he divided up his prior millions in such a fashion.

So, while what he has done is admirable, let's not pretend it's not also about PR, and even making a political statement that just happens to dovetail with the OWS folks' rhetoric.
 
I loved Lucky Louie on HBO and Lucky Louie on FX. My favorite comedian lil Jimmy Norton was on Lucky Louie.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Wow, this has to be a first; an IRS fanboy. :rolleyes:
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I am a tax lawyer who deals with the IRS and the tax code on a daily basis (often as an adversary). My experience with the IRS is that they are phenomenally well run. With few exceptions, they do the best job they could possibly do within the confines of the tax code (which was written by Congress, not the IRS).
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Wow, this has to be a first; an IRS fanboy. :rolleyes:
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I don't think it is about being an IRS fanboy, I think its about a little think called reality. The IRS didn't make the rules and many very wealthy individuals have tons of ways to get out of paying certain taxes. Then there is all the regular methods of not paying taxes as others above have mentioned.

On top of that you have the fact that he is already wealthy and probably has someone doing his taxes for him. This extra 220k is probably just a drop in the bucket to add to the rest of the money he already has. Not to mention that even in that 220k he may be putting a bit of it away for retirement, he may gift some of it to relatives, he may do any of a number of things that will negate some taxes as well.

In any case, its nice to know what he is doing with the money and I may buy more copies and shell out his link more because of what he is doing PR or not, it is a good idea and a good example. Just because something might be a PR move, does not make it unworthy to buy into.
 
I don't really care what he does with the money, I'm just happy to see distribution schemes like this working out so well. :)
 
Paying the IRS doesn't seem much different than the private sector bureaucracy that spurred him to do this in the first place...
 
OldSchool said:
Paying the IRS doesn't seem much different than the private sector bureaucracy that spurred him to do this in the first place...
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The private sector does not force people at gunpoint to turn over a large part of their property.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
Wow, this has to be a first; an IRS fanboy. :rolleyes:
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yeah, no.

The eyerolling was in regards to the statement made as if this was an illegitimate money grabbing scam, like he popped up a youtube video and grabbed a quick mil.

As if he doesn't have a production company and accountants or something to take care of all the financial details on the back end.

Most of the other folks seemed to catch my intent.
 
Yep, bought it. Yep laughed my ass off.

Yep shed a tear at the end

RIP Patrice :( Him and Louie in the same room, is painfully awesome to hear. He'll be missed
 
Dr. Righteous said:
What he didn't account for the IRS getting wind of his enterprise and taxing him to shut down status.
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280k in tax deductions.. 250k write off in expenses & another 250k in bonus's that is going to be taxed as income.. You really think the IRS is going to say much..
 
For some reason it almost feels like this thread got a little derailed. Anyway, good for Louis CK, I'm a big fan. Good to see him spreading the wealth a little in this case.
 
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