Richard Goodall may have thought that he'd be an instant millionaire after winning "America's Got Talent" — but he's not. So, where did all of that money go?
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00:00Richard Goodall may have thought that he'd be an instant millionaire after winning America's
00:04Got Talent, but he's not. So where did all of that money go?
00:07Richard Goodall was just a middle school janitor before the kids at his school encouraged him
00:11to audition for America's Got Talent. Now he's a winner — and a married man, having
00:15wed his fiancée in Malibu just after winning the contest.
00:18Goodall reported on Facebook that he married Angie Vanhoeven on September 18. In another
00:22post with even more pictures of the ceremony, the couple posted on Goodall's account,
00:26An amazing day and night last night, married to my love with my AGT family attending and
00:31we got the pleasure of eating in Malibu on the beach at Moonshadows. So blessed and eternally
00:35grateful."
00:36It's just been absolutely amazing."
00:39The musician hasn't announced how he's going to be spending his cash, but some things cannot
00:42be bought, and it looks like Goodall has the best of them, even if he won't exactly be
00:46getting a million bucks for his win.
00:48America's Got Talent has had a number of shockers go down over the years, but here's an even
00:51bigger secret that's not very well known, but it's been under people's noses the whole
00:56time. It seems that winners don't actually get the million-dollar prize due to taxes
00:59and rules, and that also applies to Goodall. There's a disclaimer that flashes by at the
01:03foot of every single episode of the contest that reads in part,
01:06"...the prize, which totals $1 million, is payable and a financial annuity over 40 years,
01:11or the contestant may choose to receive the present cash value of such annuity."
01:14In other words, winners have exactly two options. They can cash out their prize immediately
01:18for the annuity value. Forbes did the math there, and the value of that $1 million is
01:23somewhere around $150,000 to $200,000 after taxes and other gratuities. That's much less
01:28than a million, to say the least, which means taking the annual stipend might be the best
01:31idea financially. In that option, the winner would receive $25,000 a year over the span
01:36of 40 years, which will eventually total something less than $1 million after taxes. However,
01:41it would be more than $200,000. That's still a pretty penny, even with taxes taken out.
01:46Goodall is an excellent company, should he ever want to add to the amount of cash he's
01:49won as an AGT contestant. Lots of people have appeared on the show and gone on to
01:53make a whole lot of money in other ways. Season 12 winner Darcey Lynn Farmer, for instance,
01:57has gone on to tour the country with her ventriloquist act. Grace VanderWaal, who won season 11 of
02:02the show, has become a successful musician and actress, and is about to appear in the
02:06film Megalopolis.
02:07There was also a live show featuring past winners on the Las Vegas Strip titled America's
02:11Got Talent Presents Superstars. It ran for two years at the Luxor Hotel before announcing
02:16its closure early in 2024.
02:18Susan Boyle, who missed out on winning the UK edition of the contest but had a huge viral
02:22moment when a clip of her shocking the judges by singing I Dreamed a Dream, has become a
02:26superstar in Britain. She also appeared on the U.S. version of the show.
02:29Some contestants have reappeared in various all-stars and superstar seasons, and many
02:33of them have released albums or toured internationally. While some contestants, like Noah Neal and
02:38Night Birdie, have sadly passed away, many more have been able to keep financially afloat
02:42thanks to their post-show fame. Even AGT contestants like Freckled Zelda have managed
02:46to keep a foothold in popular culture after being on the show.
02:49A million bucks or not, Goodall is likely busy planning for some real-life joy as the
02:53glory of winning the talent show continues to build for his family.