Brilliant Ways In Which People Have Earned $1 Million

Plenty of people dream about the day they will find something that turns their lives around. After all, while money can’t buy you happiness, it can sure make things a lot more bearable. So what about the strangest ways people have earned $1 million? That’s right; it turns out money can often come from the most unexpected places.

Although not all of us are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time or know how to capitalize on an idea that will turn our money woes around, others have learned how to do just that. The best bit? Being the first to do something often means no one has been able to recreate their magic since.

Mel Fisher spent decades hunting treasure

When you think of treasure hunters, it can be easy to think they’re nothing more than things we see in the movies. It turns out Indiana Jones might live in the real world in the form of Mel Fisher. Still, it took decades before Mel found anything of any value off the Florida Keys. Apparently, he was determined to find lost treasure and did so when he uncovered the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, a sunken Spanish galleon. Florida immediately seized the $450 million haul before a legal battle saw three-quarters returned to Mel. Now, it’s on display at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum.

Stefan Mandel won the lottery 14 times

Winning the lottery is usually a great way to make $1 million, but it’s not something that’s guaranteed. That is unless your name is Stefan Mandel. The Romanian businessman started bouncing around the world’s lotteries in the 1950s, ensuring he had every possible combination of numbers to guarantee a win. At some points, Stefan bought millions of tickets. The biggest win came in 1992 when Stefan bought 7.1 million tickets to win $27 million in Virginia, but it’s unlikely anyone will ever be able to recreate his success. Why? The combination of numbers is too large for most people to have the money to buy every combination.

Chris Clark became a domain squatter

Did you know that domain squatters are more popular than many realize? These are people who buy domains for a low fee and sit on them until someone is desperate for the name. Only then do they sell the domain for a small fortune, but not everyone has been as lucky as Chris Clark. In 1994, Chris spent just $20 on the domain “pizza.com.” It might have taken years, but he eventually sold the address in 2008 - for a profit of $2.6 million.

Gary Dahl sold pet rocks

Is it possible to invent a new pet? Apparently so. At least, that’s what Gary Dahl did in 1975 when he released the Pet Rock. That’s right; no longer would pet owners have to worry about trips to the vet or making sure they’re fed. Instead, Gary sold each pet rock for a $1 profit. After one year and over 1 million units sold, Gary officially got to join the millionaires club, all through making money from rocks.

Erik Nakagawa sold a meme for millions

Let’s face it; memes are just about everywhere we look. What about getting your hands on one that could earn you millions of dollars? That’s what Erik Nakagawa did when he created the now-iconic cat alongside “I can has cheezburger?” It was a simple meme, but one that stole the internet’s heart as it was shared millions upon millions of times. It’s even helped to create a host of sites, merchandise, and more memes than anyone could have ever imagined. Eventually, Erik sold his creation for the small sum of $10 million.

Alex Tew sold pixels

Million Dollar Homepage is still something that’s famous across most corners of the internet. It all started in 2005 when Alex Tew registered a 1,000 x 1,000 blank pixel page. Although he only sold each pixel for $1, it wasn’t long before it all added up. Plenty of companies got in on the action, bulk buying a section of pixels on the page to use as advertising. Alex became a millionaire just a few months after Million Dollar Homepage launched, but it didn’t end there. He’s since gone on to launch the popular meditation and sleep app, Calm.

It seems there is no end to the number of strange ways people have made $1 million. While we’ll likely never be able to recreate their magic, we can certainly sit back and appreciate how they turned an idea into millions of dollars before anyone else got there first.