Disney Must Pay Millionaire Creator $269M

Judge agrees it hid profits in funky accounting

By Emily Rauhala

Posted Jul 8, 2010 4:34 PM CDT

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Disney Must Pay Millionaire Creator $269M — In this image released by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, Regis Philbin plays a round of the game with guest Anil Kapoor on his morning talk show in 2009. (AP Photo/Disney-ABC Domestic Television, David M. Russell)

A California jury ordered the Walt Disney Co. to pay the creator of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire $269.2 million for withholding profits, the LA Times reports. Celador International argued that Disney hid its real profits through what's known in the biz as "Hollywood accounting" and in the lawsuit as a "complex web of self-dealing transactions," notes the Wall Street Journal. Millionaire made gobs of money for Disney through licensing fees and ads, but showed up as a money-loser on company ledgers.

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