Brewster's Uncle specifically said that he had to get value for his money when hiring people, but Brewster made comments implying that he had to get value for any money he spent. He said to people at his final party that he wanted them to celebrate because he needed to get value for his money. He, of course, didn't tell them why.
When negotiating for the stamp, there is no legitimate way for Brewster to get the price up to 30 million dollars. If they stamp guy was greedy, Brewster would have to pay twice what it's worth maybe, but that would probably be acceptable under the terms of the will. (Expensive is fine, but you can't just give the money away.)
Brewster had another problem with the stamp that he cleverly solved. At the end of the 30 days he couldn't own any assets. He also couldn't destroy anything inherently valuable. By mailing the stamp he reduced its value to nothing without actually destroying it. There was no condition in the will about depreciating something's value so he was in the clear. When he opened up all of the bottles of wine he bought at the wine auction, he did the same thing.
Could he have done this same trick with multiple stamps. Yes, but he probably would be lynched by a mob of ticked off stamp collectors.
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Ckh87520
15 years ago
Right. The spending of $30 Million MUST cover the entire 30 days. He can't give it away or blow it in one place. And I imagine that they would be watching and studying Brewster's every move. But hey, that's just my opinion.
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devinci35
15 years ago
There was no rule concerning how quickly the money was spent. He could spend it all in one day if he wanted. There were, however, a few conditions that applied to the stamp.
1. He had to get value for his money.
2. He couldn't have any assets at the end of 30 days.
3. He couldn't destroy anything inherently valuable.
Condition 1 probably prevents Brewster from paying 30 million dollars for a stamp worth a million or two. Brewster could pay a lot for something if the seller was a tough negotiator, but he couldn't pay a ridiculous amount that could not possibly be justified.
Brewster got around conditions 2 and 3 by mailing the stamp. He reduced its value to zero without actually destroying it. This took advantage of a loophole in the conditions of the will.
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cabal24
15 years ago
Expensive is OK but excessive is nbot.
Where did the idea of not spending money in 1 place come from? A few people have said that but, after rewatching the movie again last night, I have no idea where any of that came from.
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devinci35
15 years ago
Don't know where the idea that you couldn't spend it in one place come from? You could if you could find something worth 30 million dollars to spend it on. This is somewhat difficult to pull off though.
Brewster had to get value for his money. That's the only stipulation. His uncle specifically said this concerning hiring people, and Brewster made a statement during his last party that suggested that he needed to get value for any money he spent.
Uncle Rupert-"You can hire anybody you want, but you have to get value for their services. You can donate five percent to charity and you can gamble another five percent away, but you can't give this money away! And that includes buying the Hope Diamond for some bimbo as a birthday present."
Brewster-"Hey it's supposed to be a party! This is a party! Why come everyone ain't dancin and having a good time! Did somebody die! I gotta get full value for my money!"
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jrr6415sun
12 years ago
but like you said he could have just bought all the stamps in the store and mailed a bunch of letters
and I don't think buying a million dollar stamp to mail something is NOT getting value for his money. He paid million for something when the real value is only $.45 or whatever it was in 1985
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