Price Tag

Daily run

Which scandal carries the bigger number? Every figure is the amount on record - a verdict, settlement, fine or divorce award - converted to 2026 dollars, with its source. One miss ends the run.

0 in a row · best 0
On record

Your call

$ ?

 

How to play Price Tag

Two real scandals sit side by side. The left card shows its number; the right one is hidden. Guess whether the hidden scandal cost more or less, measured in 2026 dollars. Get it right and the right card slides over to become the next one to beat. The daily run is 11 cards, the same for everyone on the same day, and it resets at midnight UTC. Endless mode keeps dealing until you miss.

Every number is the amount in the source document: a verdict, a settlement, a fine, a fraud total or a divorce award. Older amounts are converted to 2026 dollars with the US consumer price index, so a 1990s settlement and a 2024 fine can be compared fairly. Cases where the money was incidental to the scandal are left out.

Every case in the deck, biggest first (12, spoilers)
  1. Bernie Madoff: Madoff investment scandal, 2009 (2009). On record: $170 billion. About $263 billion in 2026 dollars. Source
  2. Allen Stanford: Stanford Financial Group Ponzi scheme, 2012 (2012). On record: $7 billion. About $10 billion in 2026 dollars. Source
  3. Alec Wildenstein: Wildenstein divorce, 1999 (1999). On record: $2.5 billion. About $4.9 billion in 2026 dollars. Source
  4. Richard Scrushy: HealthSouth accounting scandal, 2009 (2009). On record: $2.9 billion. About $4.5 billion in 2026 dollars. Source
  5. Harold Hamm: Hamm divorce, 2015 (2015). On record: $975 million. About $1.4 billion in 2026 dollars. Source
  6. Steven Spielberg: Spielberg–Irving divorce, 1989 (1989). On record: $100 million divorce settlement. About $262 million in 2026 dollars. Source
  7. Raj Rajaratnam: Galleon Group insider trading case, 2011 (2011). On record: $53.8 million. About $80 million in 2026 dollars. Source
  8. Jordan Belfort: Stratton Oakmont securities fraud, 1999 (1999). On record: $16 million. About $31 million in 2026 dollars. Source
  9. Ramalinga Raju: Satyam Computer Services scandal, 2015 (2015). On record: $10 million penalty. About $15 million in 2026 dollars. Source
  10. Lance Armstrong: USADA doping case, stripped of 7 Tour de France titles, 2012 (2012). On record: $7.5 million. About $11 million in 2026 dollars. Source
  11. Houston Astros: Sign-stealing scandal - fines, forfeited draft picks, 2020 (2020). On record: $5 million fine. About $6.4 million in 2026 dollars. Source
  12. Bill Clinton: Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, 1998 (1998). On record: $90,686. About $177,879 in 2026 dollars. Source

How the figures work: each amount is the one in the source document, converted to 2026 dollars with the US consumer price index (Pantheon methodology). Figures in other currencies are left out until we convert them on the record. Only cases from live, reviewed Pantheon rankings are in the game.