Jay Leno doesn't cash NBC paychecks

[snopes]

Comment: I heard on the radio last night that Jay Leno has never cashed
any of the checks that he has received from NBC. He lives on past income
and stand up comedy events.

[BringTheNoise]

Even if he has enough cash not to spend the money from NBC, why wouldn't he cash the cheques? If he didn't want the money, couldn't he just not ask for a salary or ask for the money to be donated to charity? Also, I don't know about the US, but a cheque can become invalid if it's left unprocessed for long enough.

Would Leno even get paid by cheque?

[Steve Eisenberg]

Originally Posted by BringTheNoise

Would Leno even get paid by cheque?

I doubt it.

And would a bank even have enough currency to cash it?

[Der Induktionator]

Originally Posted by Steve Eisenberg

And would a bank even have enough currency to cash it?

I heard he used to just deposit them, and now he has direct deposit.

[Gayle]

Well, isn't that what you do with paychecks? Back when you got paychecks? I haven't seen one (outside of some part-time bartending) in about 30 years.

[videoguy]

He's never "spent a dime" of his Tonight Show money.

http://www.parade.com/celebrity/2009...-pays-off.html

"When I was a kid, I had two jobs. I worked at a Ford dealership and at a McDonald’s. I’d spend the money from one job and save the money from the other. That’s still the way I am now. I live on the money I make as a comedian, and I put all the TV money in the bank. I’ve never spent a dime of TV money—ever."

[snopes]

Originally Posted by BringTheNoise

Would Leno even get paid by cheque?

Technically, NBC probably pays Big Dog Productions rather than Jay Leno directly.

[snopes]

Years ago I lived in Boston, and when I saw a Mercedes/Rolls-Royce dealer, I thought, “I’d like to work there.” I asked about a job, but the boss said, “We’re not hiring now.” Monday morning, I returned. I went to the car-wash bay, said “I’m the new guy,” and started washing cars. After three or four days, the boss saw me and asked, “What’s he doing here?”

Wasn't that the plot of a Seinfeld episode (involving Kramer)?

[videoguy]

Originally Posted by snopes

Wasn't that the plot of a Seinfeld episode (involving Kramer)?

I think it was George that was fired from a job and showed up the next working day anyway. I can't remember how it turned out.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by videoguy

I think it was George that was fired from a job and showed up the next working day anyway. I can't remember how it turned out.

There was one where Kramer returned to his old job at a bagel shop after being on strike for an absurdly long time (something like 10 or 15 years). He just walked in, announced "I'm back!" and started making bagels.

[MooseMacD]

Originally Posted by snopes

Wasn't that the plot of a Seinfeld episode (involving Kramer)?

You might be thinking of the episode "Bizarro Jerry" where Kramer gets roped into attending a business meeting while using the bathrooms in a corporate office building.

[videoguy]

I was wrong about George being fired and then still showing up the next day. Here's what happened, according to some guy...

In one episode he really wants a job that he interviewed for. He thinks he did well in the interview based on comments from the guy who would make the hiring decisions, but who is out of town. So George comes up with the “brilliant” idea that he’ll just show up for work for the next week or so and that when his potential employer gets back, George will already be “ensconced” in his new position.

[Roadsterboy]

Years ago I lived in Boston, and when I saw a Mercedes/Rolls-Royce dealer, I thought, “I’d like to work there.” I asked about a job, but the boss said, “We’re not hiring now.” Monday morning, I returned. I went to the car-wash bay, said “I’m the new guy,” and started washing cars. After three or four days, the boss saw me and asked, “What’s he doing here?

IIRC, Leno tells the same story in his book Leading With My Chin, only it's about the Ford dealership. This is based on memory-I don't have the book to hand ATM.

-RB

[monkster]

Originally Posted by videoguy

I was wrong about George being fired and then still showing up the next day

No you weren't, there is an episode where George quits his job and than regrets it so Kramer encourages him to show up the next day and act as if nothing happened (it doesn't work).

[jimmy101_again]

One reason that it is unlikely that Leno doesn't cash his NBC paychecks is that it would be a huge PITA to the network bookkeepers. Keeping tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars frozen someplace to cover those check is a bookkeeping nightmare. Heck the checks would span what 15 years or so?

[diddy]

And as it has been stated before - most likely - NBC isn’t paying Leno - NBC pays Big Dog Productions who pays Leno almost certainly though some form of direct deposit. It isn’t as if Leno just gets a check and puts it in a box and forgets it.

I think the terms “doesn’t cash the check” is not meant to imply “doesn’t deposit the money” rather “doesn’t spend it” like you or I would typically do.

[snopes]

"I live on the money I make as a comedian, and I put all the TV money in the bank. I’ve never spent a dime of TV money — ever."

I doubt he stuffs all that TV money in a mattress, so presumably it's invested or, at the very least, put into interest-bearing accounts. So does using that investment/interest income count as "spending TV money"?

[diddy]

I wouldn’t count interest bearing accounts as “spending” - In my savings account for example, I get interest based on having a minimum balance plus a percentage of that balance over - It’s a free account however and I don’t think that the bank changes me fee’s for it (I never see any). I will qualify this by saying that my savings is nowhere near what Jay Leno’s is though...

Investment accounts do infer fee’s but that would be the closest to “spending”. One would argue that the fee’s are not something that the holder willingly pays for. It’s an expense like normal bills are - and I don’t count that as “spending”. Now if he was investing money actively - than yes that would be spending, but just holding an account that has fee’s attached to it doesn’t quite count in my opinion.

But we are arguing semantics here - Leno isn’t being 100% literal - his point is that he lives on being a comedian and doesn’t even use the NBC money as living money.

[snopes]

I'm not talking about bank fees being a form of "spending"; I'm talking about the profits derived from investing money or putting it into interest-bearing accounts.

Basically, if he doesn't touch the capital but spends the profits earned therefrom, is he truly "not spending any of his TV money"?

[Melissa]

I remember seeing Leno on Inside the Actor's Studio and he mentioned that he doesn't use the money he makes from NBC, it's just sitting there. He said that the money he lives on is the money he makes doing stand up.

I also heard, though, that he did use that NBC money to pay his staff during the strike, but I don't have a source.