George Lucas
May 24
$200 million

In 1997, Hasbro awarded George Lucas $170 million worth of warrants for Hasbro stock to sweeten its Star Wars toy license renewal deal. In May, Hasbro paid Lucas $200 million to buy back those warrants.

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson
June 7
$100 million

In 2004, 50 Cent became a pitchman for Glacéau, makers of Vitaminwater, in exchange for a less-than-5% slice of equity in the company. This summer Coca-Cola bought Glacéau for $4.1 billion, and the deal netted 50 Cent $100 million.

Howard Stern
Jan. 9
$82 million

Early in the year, Sirius rewarded its star shock jock a stock bonus valued at $82 million for helping goose subscriptions from 700,000 when he joined in 2005 to nearly 8 million today. The bonus is in top of his five-year, $500 million contract.

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter
April 2
$82 million

The hip-hop kingpin, who co-founded urban fashion outfit Rocawear in 1995, unloaded the label to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million last spring. Jay Z's cut: $82 million.

Sammy Hagar
May 7
$80 million

Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar started tequila company Cabo Wabo in 1996, the same year he left the band.In May, Gruppo Campari, maker of Campari and SKYY vodka, bought 80% of the company for $80 million.