4. The Red Vineyard

Vincent van Gogh’s 1888 oil painting depicts a group of harvesters working tirelessly under the sun’s glow. It is the only piece of work Van Gogh actually sold in his lifetime, but my word did he get bumped on price.

Fellow painter Anna Boch bought the painting in 1890 for 400 francs, and in 1906 she sold it for 10,000 francs — 25 times what she paid.

Von Gogh’s paintings can sell today for more than $50 million. His most expensive, the portrait of Dr. Gachet, went for a record breaking $82.5 million in 1990 ($150 million today).

3. The Terminator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHz95RYUbik

In the early 80s, James Cameron was a struggling filmmaker with no money and no home but he did have something up his sleeve — a screenplay he had written titled The Terminator.

Hollywood producers were all lobbying to purchase the script but were unwilling to let the inexperienced Cameron direct it. One producer was cool with Cameron directing though — so long as he sold her the full rights to the film for ONE DOLLAR.

Guess what? Cameron agreed and while he made fuck all from that movie he did earn the respect of his peers and went on to direct Aliens, Terminator 2, Titanic and Avatar, which made him more money than he probably ever imagined.