MovieChat Forums > The Company Men (2011) Discussion > Did the Tommy Lee Jones character have a...

Did the Tommy Lee Jones character have a lot of money?

posted 14 years ago by lukn4frnz
21 replies | jump to latest

I wasn't sure, did his character have a lot of stock, thus when the company got sold, he had a lot of money? Seems like if he'd been with the company so long, his long term friend owning it, that yeah, he'd have a lot of stock.

Thus, even though he got the pink slip, he also got a great deal of money when the company was sold?

At the end of the movie, Affleck's charcter says he's basically financing the new business with his American Express card, so I got confused - he did or didn't have a lot of money?

[–] set704 14 years ago

The movie seemed to imply he didn't have much money because he was financing the new venture with his credit cards. I was under the impression that he and his friend founded the company, so I would expect that he had a good stake in GTX.

[–] SomervilleRed 14 years ago

He mentioned he made $1/2 million on his stock in one day. Undoubtedly, he had a ton of money in the company since he was there from the start. Starting a company on the cheap is still a good way to do it ... it's hard for an individual to bootstrap a company, especially if he needs to hold back money to take care of his own retirement.

[–] goodone1944 14 years ago

That 1/2 million he made in one day because "the stock went up 2 points". Yes he was rich---his stock probably amounted to several hundred million. Didn't his boss say near the end of the movie that his own stock was worth 600 million ? So TLJ"s character probably had at least 100 million.

[–] marc-401 14 years ago

Well, he made $500,000 on two points ($2). the stock ended at $97, at the end of the movie, so his own worth would be around 24MM.

The comment about starting the new company on his credit card would be either a joke or a figure of speech.

[–] set704 14 years ago

Maybe he was trying to get extra points on his credit cards for frequent flyer miles or gasoline credits.

[–] axxellien 14 years ago

..Acc. to this movie`s info. he would have been worth $20 to 25 Mill...but His wife was selling the house..Divorce??..No doubt a big fortune but not enough to kickstart such a huge venture, hence, ``Associates``..i.e. outside investor $$$..... Manager,Bill Aucoin carried the fledging Rock band KISS on His AMEX card until they broke wide open in the mid 1970s...

[–] Synetech 13 years ago

Well, he made $500,000 on two points ($2). the stock ended at $97, at the end of the movie, so his own worth would be around 24MM.

Yup, that is why after GTX accepted Allied's bid, Jim mentioned that his shares are worth 600M and snidely and smugly asked how much Gene's are worth, indicating that the cuts he made were indeed good because they both benefited so much from them.

The comment about starting the new company on his credit card would be either a joke or a figure of speech.

Yes, that was hyperbole. I (sadly) don't know exactly how having millions of dollars and starting a business would work (yet?), but I suspect that you can't just cash in tens of millions in stocks to a credit-card and buy a building on it (of course there are black cards and such, but still...) Bobby simply meant that Gene is funding almost the entire company out of his own pocket as opposed to using loans or investors.

[–] bluekarma06 13 years ago

if the stock moved 2 points(2$) and he made 500k, then I am thinking 250,000 shares and at 97$ a share buyout price, that's 242,500,000.00!!

I think he is working for the fun of it at the end! hardly broke!!

[–] eastcoastguyz 13 years ago

That was intended as a joke. Compared to their previous company the place they were at now was a shoestring budget.

[–] lindugh 14 years ago

I really thought this movie would have been better without Tommy Lee's character. Too vague and uninteresting.

[–] Synetech 13 years ago

Then you missed the point altogether. The Gene character was meant to be the voice of reason, pointing out that downsizing is not just a free and easy way to make a buck, but rather is cutting people and families; ruining lives. He was also meant in the end to give hope by starting the new company and taking on all the downsized employees.

[–] VeritasV 12 years ago

TLJ character was the point of the movie as I saw it. He had the ability to build the company from the beginning and the empathy to see that having to make quarterly earnings without regard for what is right for the company or the employees is what has eviscerated our countries true economic base. Globalization may very well be necessary, but its costs at the level of the individual are quite high. There is no easy answer.

[–] tony3920 14 years ago

Yes, he did.

But obviously the costs to starting up a massive operation like they were in the end would cost 10s of millions of dollars

[–] eastcoastguyz 13 years ago

We don't know if he had other assets to use to secure the loan other than from the sale of his stock options. We also don't know if he got investors which I would imagine he might be able to do since he was in business for a long time, it seems like he would have made important contacts along the way or at least the knowledge of how to better secure financing than most.

[–] lanceus 14 years ago

Yes he had a lot of money, but he (apparently) was about to get divorced from his long-time wife, which may have cost him half of his assets, and starting a new business, may have purchased that run-down shipyard building, plus this was still taking place during the Recession, so other investments may have been tanking.

I think Bobby's comment about the AMEX was more of a figure of speech, since TLJ's character mentioned earlier that they were still looking for investors.

[–] peteroid 13 years ago

he likely had millions of dollars.... maybe even ten's of millions of dollars...

but to start a new company with a dozen employees... and I believe he also bought the dead factory and the land it was on as well to do so... it would have cost a lot to do that... the 'paying for it on a credit card' line was a metaphor, just to instill in the workers that shouldn't take the business for granted... (IMHO)...

and keep in mind, you don't put ALL your money into such an investment.. in fact it would be dumb to put more than 20% of what you own into it... so it is incorrect to equate what he would invest into this new company is almost all of what he owned...

- It has been said, that to write, is to live forever.... the man who wrote that... is dead! -

[–] gb120566 13 years ago

His stock options probably vested and were converted when he was laid-off; which means he sold way under the $97 buyout. However, he was still plenty rich. I actually think the line, "how much are your shares worth?" was sort of an FU cuase he missed the buyout.

[–] Whoah10115 12 years ago

I don't know but that *beep* ass, aimless digression -I mean affair with Mario Bello- allowed...well, allowed is the wrong word.

That Mario Bello nipple cut is the single worst use of nudity I've ever seen. I don't think this Wells fellow knows what he's doing. That *beep* was the point where I realized this is one of the worst films...I've ever seen. Ever.

[–] Prismark10 12 years ago

I think its implied at the end he has money with his stock options.

Its that man again!!

[–] jmix66 12 years ago

He was so wealthy that he couldn't have been fired.
They would have asked him to resign.
Even then, that's kind of shaky as the resignation of so important a player within the company could have easily caused the stock to drop.

Guys like him are asked to leave and then given golden parachutes when they do. Moving in with his mistress was just stupid as it would have made it easier for his wife to clean him out in any divorce settlement.

Really,silly film.

Bad films are a crime against humanity.

[–] Trackmaster 11 years ago

He was fired or removed from position, whatever you want to call it, for insubordination and being difficult to work with. He was trying to project his 99%er values on a company trying to get back into the black. He barged into a meeting that the CEO was having and made a scene. He was also bringing up irrelevant and unproductive details when they were trying to figure out which positions to eliminate. You can assume that he's also being stirring the pot and making comments like that for years, riling people up.