Gold rush

[P-Jay]

youngsyr said:

So, all in all, some pretty sharp practices by Tony, which kind of defies his presentation by the programme as being a succesful miner in the Yukon. Seems he owes a lot of his success to fking over his business partners.

Not surprising really, when you consider how he treats his kids - he heavily criticised Kevin for going to take a nap after being up all night to fix a problem with the dredge. Kevin didn't leave the dredge until it was fixed, but apparently that wasn't good enough. Seems like a horrible person to work with.

Edited by youngsyr on Thursday 20th October 14:45

Isn’t that the truth.

He's one of those self-made, came from nothing guys - you have to hand it to them, but it makes you very hard.

Truth with Tony is that he portrays himself as a "done on a handshake" type of guy, but when push comes to shove you had better have it in writing, in the correct format etc - he probably just sees making empty promises as 'business'.

He's not unique in that though, I lost count of how many times I was told by some Boss or other of mine "stick with me kid, riches are just around the corner" when I was young and stupid enough to believe them, only to work myself silly to make them a lot of money and be told "you should be grateful for a job" and "I, and I alone built this with my own two hands" as they waltz off, usually in a Range Rover.

I blame Bill Gates, when he gave all his early staff shares in Microsoft that made them millions later on, he made it conceivable that you could indeed make big piles of money simply by working for the right person at the right time, being loyal and accepting less then you should in the early days - the difference is of course - he promised it to them in writing and actually meant it. – it’s just ‘staff motivation 101 now’. Make big promises in words, but only offer the legal minimum in writing – just tell them “oh it’s just legal mumbo jumbo”.

[youngsyr]

P-Jay said:

youngsyr said:

So, all in all, some pretty sharp practices by Tony, which kind of defies his presentation by the programme as being a succesful miner in the Yukon. Seems he owes a lot of his success to fking over his business partners.

Not surprising really, when you consider how he treats his kids - he heavily criticised Kevin for going to take a nap after being up all night to fix a problem with the dredge. Kevin didn't leave the dredge until it was fixed, but apparently that wasn't good enough. Seems like a horrible person to work with.

Edited by youngsyr on Thursday 20th October 14:45

Isn’t that the truth.

He's one of those self-made, came from nothing guys - you have to hand it to them, but it makes you very hard.

Truth with Tony is that he portrays himself as a "done on a handshake" type of guy, but when push comes to shove you had better have it in writing, in the correct format etc - he probably just sees making empty promises as 'business'.

He's not unique in that though, I lost count of how many times I was told by some Boss or other of mine "stick with me kid, riches are just around the corner" when I was young and stupid enough to believe them, only to work myself silly to make them a lot of money and be told "you should be grateful for a job" and "I, and I alone built this with my own two hands" as they waltz off, usually in a Range Rover.

I blame Bill Gates, when he gave all his early staff shares in Microsoft that made them millions later on, he made it conceivable that you could indeed make big piles of money simply by working for the right person at the right time, being loyal and accepting less then you should in the early days - the difference is of course - he promised it to them in writing and actually meant it. – it’s just ‘staff motivation 101 now’. Make big promises in words, but only offer the legal minimum in writing – just tell them “oh it’s just legal mumbo jumbo”.

Funny you mention that - seems it is standard "entrepreneurial practice" nowadays - I worked in the finance team for a self-made property developer. Expected to work all hours with the promise of big staff bonuses when the projects completed (typically always 18 months away).

However, working in the finance department I saw and in some cases put together the financial projections - the "big staff bonuses" were actually pretty modest and that was before you took into account the weasel words in the contract - they were a % of "net profit", meaning the company could put through whatever costs they saw fit (even fictional ones) to cut down the size of the net profit bonus pool.

They seemed very surprised when I, and several others, walked in short order.

Actually being issued shares in the company, or even share options, seems very rare nowadays, but that gives employees a true stake in the success of the company.

[h0b0]

For those wondering why Todd would leave a sure thing, don't forget the origins of the show. Todd was one of the people that created the show and it was about the drama of gold mining. Todd makes his money from the show and always has. His mining operations have never been profitable. So, there is no value to him in having a successful, smooth operation. For his actual job that's a boring failure. People don't realize this because he doesn't look like a stereotypical TV executive. But, it is the reason for the tension between Todd and Parker. Parker comes from a real gold mine where they had to calculate profit to ensure it is feasible to mine. In recent seasons though, he has started to have a suspicious amount of brand new equipment.

Even Tony said "*** Polaris*** up to the **** dredge" last week and we then see a Polaris swinging from a helicopter. The next ad break in the US was full of Polaris vehicles.

[SHutchinson]

h0b0 said:

For those wondering why Todd would leave a sure thing, don't forget the origins of the show. Todd was one of the people that created the show and it was about the drama of gold mining. Todd makes his money from the show and always has. His mining operations have never been profitable. So, there is no value to him in having a successful, smooth operation. For his actual job that's a boring failure. People don't realize this because he doesn't look like a stereotypical TV executive. But, it is the reason for the tension between Todd and Parker. Parker comes from a real gold mine where they had to calculate profit to ensure it is feasible to mine. In recent seasons though, he has started to have a suspicious amount of brand new equipment.

Even Tony said "*** Polaris*** up to the **** dredge" last week and we then see a Polaris swinging from a helicopter. The next ad break in the US was full of Polaris vehicles.

Exactly this. Once you see it you realise how they all make their money. The new titles are really flashy too, you can tell the programme is enjoying more funding. It makes much better TV to have a load of drama. Who on earth would watch an hour of people running a well organised and efficient mining operation? Well, we all would, but that's not the point!

[London424]

But isn't the point that to have people work for him they need to make money in some way? Discovery aren't paying fortunes to 'rock truck driver 1/2/3 etc.'.

Todd may well be fine but as it appears from the end of that episode he's probably pissed off an awful lot of people that were counting on him to deliver gold.

[R8Steve]

London424 said:

But isn't the point that to have people work for him they need to make money in some way? Discovery aren't paying fortunes to 'rock truck driver 1/2/3 etc.'.

Todd may well be fine but as it appears from the end of that episode he's probably pissed off an awful lot of people that were counting on him to deliver gold.

Here is the estimated figures -

Gold Rush makes about $2M per season or roughly $100K per episode.

Todd Hoffman - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Parker Schnabel - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Dave Turin - $15K/episode or $300K/year
Jack Hoffman - $10K/episode or $200K/year
The rest of the $25K/episode or $500K/year is split between the rest of the cast. Of course they get to keep the gold they find.

[316Mining]

The cameras are always on the scene when theres a 'near' disaster too. They never actually catch the whole disaster, just the running around bit as its just happened. then no one is ever seriously injured.

People get killed and mashed up by big machinery when things go wrong, but not on Gold Rush...

[London424]

R8Steve said:

London424 said:

But isn't the point that to have people work for him they need to make money in some way? Discovery aren't paying fortunes to 'rock truck driver 1/2/3 etc.'.

Todd may well be fine but as it appears from the end of that episode he's probably pissed off an awful lot of people that were counting on him to deliver gold.

Here is the estimated figures -

Gold Rush makes about $2M per season or roughly $100K per episode.

Todd Hoffman - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Parker Schnabel - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Dave Turin - $15K/episode or $300K/year
Jack Hoffman - $10K/episode or $200K/year
The rest of the $25K/episode or $500K/year is split between the rest of the cast. Of course they get to keep the gold they find.

Tony and co don't get anything?

Not much an episode to share around the rest of the crew/cast and if you aren't finding any gold at all you are probably struggling.

[youngsyr]

London424 said:

R8Steve said:

London424 said:

But isn't the point that to have people work for him they need to make money in some way? Discovery aren't paying fortunes to 'rock truck driver 1/2/3 etc.'.

Todd may well be fine but as it appears from the end of that episode he's probably pissed off an awful lot of people that were counting on him to deliver gold.

Here is the estimated figures -

Gold Rush makes about $2M per season or roughly $100K per episode.

Todd Hoffman - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Parker Schnabel - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Dave Turin - $15K/episode or $300K/year
Jack Hoffman - $10K/episode or $200K/year
The rest of the $25K/episode or $500K/year is split between the rest of the cast. Of course they get to keep the gold they find.

Tony and co don't get anything?

Not much an episode to share around the rest of the crew/cast and if you aren't finding any gold at all you are probably struggling.

Can't comment on the TV payments each cast member gets, but cash isn't the only benefit for appearing in the show - I understand the show is sponsored by Polaris and Volvo, hence a lot of the heavy machinery that appears is either discounted or free.

If you pay attention in the show, you'll notice that every brand name is blanked out/taped over, except a very specific few - those brand names you see are providing their goods to the show.

[P-Jay]

R8Steve said:

Here is the estimated figures -

Gold Rush makes about $2M per season or roughly $100K per episode.

Todd Hoffman - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Parker Schnabel - $25K/episode or $500K/year
Dave Turin - $15K/episode or $300K/year
Jack Hoffman - $10K/episode or $200K/year
The rest of the $25K/episode or $500K/year is split between the rest of the cast. Of course they get to keep the gold they find.

It's good money, but it's not enough to make it viable to burn through X thousands of dollars a day in fuel, equipment hire etc just for the drama.

I seem to recall 'Dakota' Fred and his Son left the series because of a falling out with the producers, his argument was along the lines of 'pay me as an actor, and we'll act it all out for the camera, or I'm going to do some real mining'. I think it was about their supposed plan to start a small-scale mine on a mountain top where they had to fly everything in by helicopter and rough it in tents etc. It was never going to make any money so he wanted more appearance money to compensate for the loss of gold.

If I’m completely honest, I don't believe any of it is how it seems on TV, Discovery want to portray this idea that they're still 'prospecting' living on their wits, risking it all to strike it rich - but it's just not like that these days. It's an industry like any other - they survey the land, test it, calculate yields to a decent level of certainty and decide on a course of action to guarantee a decent return - there's none of this "run for a week and let old Fricken Beardface pull a surprise jar out of his jacket for a laugh" but like Fast n' Loud - if you think about it too much, you'll see the joins and it's not fun to watch anymore. So I play along with the story and have a laugh.

Saying that, way back at the start when they were at Big Nugget - that was about gambling to see what was there, but you have to remember that was Grampa's folly, he made is money in Lumber and opened a mine with some old equipment for a hobby and to do something with his kids.

[chrisga]

316Mining said:

Stuff

Hey Todd, is that you?

[Sway]

Tony is an utter arse at times...

Parker done good with that washplant, really nice design.

Todd surely can't decide where to mine on the basis of a pan from each option?

[chrisga]

Of course not. That's why he chose to start mining both......

[316Mining]

Sway said:

Tony is an utter arse at times...

Parker done good with that washplant, really nice design.

Todd surely can't decide where to mine on the basis of a pan from each option?

Tony is an ass, but his dream of resurrecting the dredge is paying for itself in quick time.

I'd love to know what he pays the kids, as it looks much like slave labour to me. Pocket money I'm guessing.

[Sway]

He's clearly a great miner - the foresight to spend that much dosh, but then achieve ridiculously low extraction costs was inspired.

Delights in being a knob to those intrinsic to his success though...

Kids may have low salaries, but I bet there's a metric fkton of cash coming at some point, and a great learning experience to take over the whole shebang in the future.

[chrisga]

Tony is a bit of a cantankerous old chap but he cracked me up when Kevin was moaning saying he interferes too much and he said "yeah but i built an airport and that's pretty cool".

I think I understood correctly from the preview of next weeks episode that Todd goes back to the Klondike to take apart big red and ship it 2000 miles back to Oregon. Surely you wouldn't want to take time out of the mining season to ship equipment across a continent. Wouldn't you have done that before the season started, or couldn't he because of the weather in Alaska? Will the season be longer in Oregon as further south to make up for it?

[youngsyr]

chrisga said:

Tony is a bit of a cantankerous old chap but he cracked me up when Kevin was moaning saying he interferes too much and he said "yeah but i built an airport and that's pretty cool".

I think I understood correctly from the preview of next weeks episode that Todd goes back to the Klondike to take apart big red and ship it 2000 miles back to Oregon. Surely you wouldn't want to take time out of the mining season to ship equipment across a continent. Wouldn't you have done that before the season started, or couldn't he because of the weather in Alaska? Will the season be longer in Oregon as further south to make up for it?

I suspect the season in Oregon runs pretty much all year, but as for Todd's "strategy", trying to find any rhyme or reason in it has long been proven to be futile!

[anonymous-user]

Sway said:

Kids may have low salaries, but I bet there's a metric fkton of cash coming at some point, and a great learning experience to take over the whole shebang in the future.

+1

He might pay them peanuts now, but he's probably got a mountain of cash stashed away that the kids will no doubt get at some point.

I guess he's like most peoples parents of that generation, stloads of money but doesn't really spend it on much.

I watched one of the special episodes where he showed off his winter home in Arizona as though it was something from
MTV Cribs, but it was essentially a £200k house and an aging CLK merc.

[youngsyr]

NinjaPower said:

Sway said:

Kids may have low salaries, but I bet there's a metric fkton of cash coming at some point, and a great learning experience to take over the whole shebang in the future.

+1

He might pay them peanuts now, but he's probably got a mountain of cash stashed away that the kids will no doubt get at some point.

I guess he's like most peoples parents of that generation, stloads of money but doesn't really spend it on much.

I watched one of the special episodes where he showed off his winter home in Arizona as though it was something from
MTV Cribs, but it was essentially a £200k house and an aging CLK merc.

Well, he did spunk $1m on a rusty old dredge that was miles out of position (twice), so it's not like he's just hoarding the cash!

I suspect he has a lot of debt tied up in his business and very little free cash.

[P-Jay]

I don't think Tony pays his kids that badly, I seem to recall their other Son who doesn't mine is off to Colleague without a loan/job and his Daughter's first car was something fancy - they work for it, but they're paid.

Unsurprised to see Todd's fked up again, Freddie and Dave to the rescue. Jack really should be saying his fricken prayers to them.