Only read on if you’ve watched this week’s Mad Men.
With due respect to the singing communist ghost of Bert Cooper, money is a nice thing to have. After last night’s mid-season finale of Mad Men, with the expected sale of the firm to McCann, the partners at SC&P — Don Draper, Roger Sterling, Joan Harris, Pete Campbell, Jim Cutler, Ted Chaough, plus whoever Bert’s beneficiary is — stand to make a load of it. If, like Roger says, McCann values Sterling Cooper & Partners at $65 million and buys 51 percent of the company, that would put the total sale price at $33,150,000. With the caveat that math is not our first language, here is our best estimate for how that would be split up.
Joan: We know she owns 5 percent of SC&P, which by Roger’s calculation would net her “a little over one and a half million.†Or, more specifically, $1,657,500, which in today’s dollars is about $10.4 million.
Pete: He owns 10 percent of the company, which makes his take $3,315,000 — or about $20.8 million today.
Ted and Jim: According to Pete, Ted owns 20 percent of SC&P, which means Jim probably does, too. So they each made $6,630,000 in the sale. Adjusted for inflation, this is approximately $41.6 million.
Roger, Don, and Bert’s estate: Let’s assume for our purposes that Roger, Don, and Bert owned equal parts of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce when the firm merged with Cutler, Gleason, and Chaough last season (and that Bert’s ownership has not yet been redistributed). That would mean each owns 15 percent of SC&P, which would make their takes $4,972,500 each. Or, in 2014, $31.2 million.
Harry: Since he didn’t complete his paperwork in time, he owns a 0 percent stake in SC&P, which makes his share of the sale $0. (Adjusted for inflation: $0.)