MovieChat Forums > Empire (2002) Discussion > Lets figure out how much he was making

Lets figure out how much he was making

posted 14 years ago by AmericanMovieFan
1 reply | jump to latest

He said he was making $30,000 a week from that one corner, which honestly didn't seem that hotly contested in the first place. A guy with his power in a neighborhood like that must be running 4 corners with his crew, selling 52 weeks a year. You figure he's making an average of $30,000 a week per corner, so he's averaging $120,000 a week, 52 weeks a year. Dude must be making between $6-7 million a year easily. So lets call it $6,500,000. Subtract say half of that for overhead to his suppliers, dividing up 60% of his take between his co-workers and the left over 40% for himself, that's around $1,300,000 a year for himself, cash in pocket. Now, obviously that's not enough to buy $15 million condos in downtown Manhattan, but how wealthy does he want to be?

Brian Peppers is my Homeboy

[–] micaofboca-836-322711 13 years ago

Naturally your point is well taken, especially if there were any remote relationship with reality behind the incredibly thin premise, that he would hand over millions of dollars of cash to a random acquaintance, an unresearched Wall Street trader without any professional advice. The tax implications and IRS documentation that would enter his new life would put him in prison with Al Capone. And to believe La Colombiana (Isabella Rossellini) would do the same is even more ludicrous considering her criminal acumen.
Of course we're led to believe Victor's motivation was to clean up his life and live legitimately. However, his earnings would have put him in jail faster than his narcotics business. But then again, the real-life George Jung (the millionaire drug dealer in "Blow" had his fortune made and blew it by not retiring. It's amazing how greedy multi-millionaires are, whether they're criminals or legiitimate. The only redeeming quality to this movie is the amusing acting of John Leguuizamo. He's a goof (in the good sense of the word).