WHEN unknown writer Charles Webb sold the rights to The Graduate for £14,000, he thought he was quids in. How wrong can you be?
Since 1967, when his novel was turned into a hit movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, it has made more than £60million.
Meanwhile, 66-year-old Webb and his wife Fred have debts of £30,000 and face eviction from their flat in Hove, East Sussex.
Here, we take a look at some other costly mistakes...
*Record boss who turned down the Beatles
IN 1962, the year before Beatlemania erupted in Britain, the Fab Four travelled from Liverpool to London in a bid to get signed by Decca Records.
At their audition, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and then drummer Pete Best belted out 15 songs but Decca boss Dick Rowe was unimpressed and turned the band down. He complained they sounded too much like The Shadows, adding: "Guitar groups are on the way out."
Instead he signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Oops.
*Wannabe who quit Spice Girls
IN 1994, more than 400 hopefuls replied to an ad wanting five girls for a new group. And Victoria Adams, Mel Brown, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm and Michelle Stephenson were duly signed up.
But after months of hard graft with nothing to show for it, 25-year-old Michelle quit to be replaced by Emma Bunton.
Two months on, The Spice Girls signed a £2million deal and became one of the biggest bands of the '90s. Michelle sighs: "You can't spend your life regretting things."
*Toy firm could have had the Monopoly
IT'S the biggest-selling board game in the world, but Monopoly's inventor had a hard time trying to get it into shops.
Unemployed salesman Charles Darrow, from Pennsylvania, created the real-estate game in 1933. But when he approached Parker Brothers to see if they'd be interested in marketing his creation, they pointed out 52 errors - including the fact it took too long to play, and turned him down.
He put it on sale himself at $4 a set - and the toy company was forced to buy him out a year later when it became a huge success.
*Studio that lost Star Wars
BACK in 1975, up-andcoming director George Lucas pitched a movie idea to Universal about an epic intergalactic battle between good and evil.
But the film studio wasn't interested, calling the script unfathomable and silly. So Lucas took Star Wars to 20th Century Fox instead.
Since its release in 1977, the hit sci-fi movie and its sequels have made over £1.5billion.
"Silly" money indeed..
*Safety pin king wasn't sharp
ALTHOUGH it had been around for thousands of years, American Walter Hunt re-invented the safety pin in 1849 but then sold the patent for just $400. Since then, it's estimated that enough modern safety pins have been manufactured to reach to the moon and back twice.
*Missed Window of opportunity
SOFTWARE genius Gary Kildall turned down a deal that could have made him the richest man in the world.
In 1980, computer giant IBM offered him the chance to supply an operating system for their PCs.
When he turned them down, the firm went to Bill Gates' Microsoft which snapped up the offer. Now Gates is worth £28billion while Kildall died in a 1994 brawl.
*No notes for music pioneer
APPLE'S iPod is the world's fastest-selling electrical item, shifting 41 million units in five years. Just don't mention it to Britain's Kane Kramer, who invented a way of storing music on a digital chip back in 1979. Nine years later, he couldn't afford to renew the patents and the tech - nology became public property. Kramer, who now runs a Hertfordshire furniture shop, says: "In a way, I'm the world's biggest failure."
Genius's power failure
NIKOLA Tesla was the genius behind the neon bulb, neon lights. He also formulated the principles of radio, radar and the microwave oven.
A Slav immigrant to the US, he was hailed as the world's greatest inventor and earned lucrative royalties. Unfortunately he ploughed his money into an ill-fated lab and a wireless transmitter and ran out of money before it could be completed.
He sold the rights to all his inventions to electrical firm Westinghouse for $216,000. While others made millions from his research, Tesla died penniless in 1943.
*Star who wished he'd given a damn
IT'S one of the best-loved movies ever, but Gary Cooper wasn't interested in starring in Gone With The Wind. When Cooper learned the studio had found an actor to play Rhett Butler, he commented: "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling flat on his face, and not Gary Cooper." Doh!
*Publishers who didn't believe in JK's magic
IT'S the tale of a teenage wizard which has been translated into 47 languages and kick-started a literary phenomenon that's sold 130 million books.
But when Scottish author JK Rowling tried to find a publisher for Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone in 1996 she was turned down by nine publishers, including Transworld, HarperCollins and Penguin.
Finally Bloomsbury took it on, and the rest is publishing history.
Since 1967, when his novel was turned into a hit movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, it has made more than £60million.
Meanwhile, 66-year-old Webb and his wife Fred have debts of £30,000 and face eviction from their flat in Hove, East Sussex.
Here, we take a look at some other costly mistakes...
*Record boss who turned down the Beatles
IN 1962, the year before Beatlemania erupted in Britain, the Fab Four travelled from Liverpool to London in a bid to get signed by Decca Records.
At their audition, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and then drummer Pete Best belted out 15 songs but Decca boss Dick Rowe was unimpressed and turned the band down. He complained they sounded too much like The Shadows, adding: "Guitar groups are on the way out."
Instead he signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Oops.
*Wannabe who quit Spice Girls
IN 1994, more than 400 hopefuls replied to an ad wanting five girls for a new group. And Victoria Adams, Mel Brown, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm and Michelle Stephenson were duly signed up.
But after months of hard graft with nothing to show for it, 25-year-old Michelle quit to be replaced by Emma Bunton.
Two months on, The Spice Girls signed a £2million deal and became one of the biggest bands of the '90s. Michelle sighs: "You can't spend your life regretting things."
*Toy firm could have had the Monopoly
IT'S the biggest-selling board game in the world, but Monopoly's inventor had a hard time trying to get it into shops.
Unemployed salesman Charles Darrow, from Pennsylvania, created the real-estate game in 1933. But when he approached Parker Brothers to see if they'd be interested in marketing his creation, they pointed out 52 errors - including the fact it took too long to play, and turned him down.
He put it on sale himself at $4 a set - and the toy company was forced to buy him out a year later when it became a huge success.
*Studio that lost Star Wars
BACK in 1975, up-andcoming director George Lucas pitched a movie idea to Universal about an epic intergalactic battle between good and evil.
But the film studio wasn't interested, calling the script unfathomable and silly. So Lucas took Star Wars to 20th Century Fox instead.
Since its release in 1977, the hit sci-fi movie and its sequels have made over £1.5billion.
"Silly" money indeed..
*Safety pin king wasn't sharp
ALTHOUGH it had been around for thousands of years, American Walter Hunt re-invented the safety pin in 1849 but then sold the patent for just $400. Since then, it's estimated that enough modern safety pins have been manufactured to reach to the moon and back twice.
*Missed Window of opportunity
SOFTWARE genius Gary Kildall turned down a deal that could have made him the richest man in the world.
In 1980, computer giant IBM offered him the chance to supply an operating system for their PCs.
When he turned them down, the firm went to Bill Gates' Microsoft which snapped up the offer. Now Gates is worth £28billion while Kildall died in a 1994 brawl.
*No notes for music pioneer
APPLE'S iPod is the world's fastest-selling electrical item, shifting 41 million units in five years. Just don't mention it to Britain's Kane Kramer, who invented a way of storing music on a digital chip back in 1979. Nine years later, he couldn't afford to renew the patents and the tech - nology became public property. Kramer, who now runs a Hertfordshire furniture shop, says: "In a way, I'm the world's biggest failure."
Genius's power failure
NIKOLA Tesla was the genius behind the neon bulb, neon lights. He also formulated the principles of radio, radar and the microwave oven.
A Slav immigrant to the US, he was hailed as the world's greatest inventor and earned lucrative royalties. Unfortunately he ploughed his money into an ill-fated lab and a wireless transmitter and ran out of money before it could be completed.
He sold the rights to all his inventions to electrical firm Westinghouse for $216,000. While others made millions from his research, Tesla died penniless in 1943.
*Star who wished he'd given a damn
IT'S one of the best-loved movies ever, but Gary Cooper wasn't interested in starring in Gone With The Wind. When Cooper learned the studio had found an actor to play Rhett Butler, he commented: "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling flat on his face, and not Gary Cooper." Doh!
*Publishers who didn't believe in JK's magic
IT'S the tale of a teenage wizard which has been translated into 47 languages and kick-started a literary phenomenon that's sold 130 million books.
But when Scottish author JK Rowling tried to find a publisher for Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone in 1996 she was turned down by nine publishers, including Transworld, HarperCollins and Penguin.
Finally Bloomsbury took it on, and the rest is publishing history.
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This is thought provoking! May God help us not to under utilize our gifts and sell ourselves cheap!Thanks for reminding me that no one that puts his hand to the plough that looks back is fit for his kingdom!Great job
ReplyDeleteHi Bridget, Thanks for always stopping by. you are a great inspiration to me. keep it up, we will never stop until we achieve our goals.
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