Hollywood star George Clooney surprised 14 of his closest friends with $1 million each in cash in 2013, repaying the people who supported him before he became a successful actor.
The actor revealed that he had once slept on their couches and borrowed money from them when he was struggling to make ends meet.
The surprise gift came after Gravity, the 2013 science-fiction film starring Clooney and Sandra Bullock, became a major hit. Instead of keeping all the money he earned, Clooney decided to share a large part of his success with the friends who had helped him over the years.
In a November 2020 interview with GQ, Clooney explained why he wanted to reward the people who had stood by him for about 35 years.
“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.”
Photo by Valery HACHE / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
The actor’s longtime friend and business partner, Rande Gerber, first shared details of the unusual dinner party during a 2017 appearance on MSNBC. Clooney later told his side of the story in the GQ interview.
According to Gerber, the gathering took place on September 27, 2013. Clooney invited the group, known among themselves as “The Boys” or “The Guys,” to his home for dinner. Each friend found a suitcase filled with $1 million in cash waiting at the table.
The 14 gifts added up to $14 million.
Clooney said his friends had played an important role in his life long before he became one of Hollywood’s best-known stars. They had offered him places to stay, lent him money, and helped him through difficult times.
By the time of the dinner, Clooney had earned a major financial boost from Gravity. The film’s payment deal gave him a share of its earnings instead of a larger upfront payment because its producers did not expect it to perform well.
“Because they didn’t want to pay us, they gave us percentages of the movie, ’cause they thought it was gonna be a flop, and that ended up being a very good deal,” Clooney told GQ.
The unexpected success gave him the chance to do something meaningful for the people who had helped him when he had little money.
Clooney said he thought about what his friends had made possible in his life. He described showing them a map of the places he had visited and the things he had experienced because of their support.
“I just held up a map and I just pointed to all the places I got to go in the world and all the things I’ve gotten to see because of them. And I said, ‘How do you repay people like that?’”
He then offered his own answer: “Oh, well: How about a million bucks?”
Clooney had also thought about what might happen if he died before he could give anything back. As he explained to GQ, his friends were already so important to him that he had considered including them in his will.
“We’re all really close, and I just thought basically if I get hit by a bus, they’re all in the will. So why the [explicit] am I waiting to get hit by a bus?”
Rather than wait until later in life, he decided to give the money to his friends while they could enjoy it together.
The surprise was even bigger than the cash-filled suitcases. Gerber recalled that Clooney also paid the taxes on the gifts, allowing his friends to keep the full $1 million each.
During the dinner, Clooney reportedly told the group that he knew some of them had faced financial problems and that others were still struggling. He wanted them to have fewer worries about their families and daily expenses.
“I know we’ve all been through some hard times, some of you are still going through it. You don’t have to worry about your kids, you don’t have to worry about school, you don’t have to worry about paying your mortgage.”
Gerber said the men were shocked when they opened the suitcases and saw the money. He also explained that not every person in the group was wealthy, making the gift especially meaningful for those who needed financial help.
Gerber, who was already financially successful, initially tried to refuse the money. However, Clooney insisted that he accept it. Gerber later donated his $1 million to charity.
For Gerber, the gift showed the kind of person Clooney was outside his work as an actor and filmmaker. He said the gesture “pretty much sums up who George is.”
The story also included an interesting detail about Clooney’s personal life. On Sept. 27, 2014, exactly one year after the dinner, he married human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, now known as Amal Clooney.
At the time of the 2013 dinner, Clooney had already met Amal but had not yet started a family with her. He said his longtime friends were among the most important people in his life.
Clooney’s financial success later grew through other business ventures. In 2017, he and Gerber sold Casamigos, the tequila company they started with another friend, to beverage company Diageo in a deal reported to be worth up to $1 billion.
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