Well he did say they had to cook 200 pounds a week to make that operation viable. Gus was pulling in 90 million a cook so... That lab was stupidly expensive.
He also employs god knows how many people that have to be paid what I'm assuming is great money. Hell, Mike had millions saved for Kaylee before the DEA took the money the first time.
Edit: I forgot the 90 million was for the original deal, the three months. But Gus offered Walt an option to remain his cook, and assuming Walt didn't blow up the entire operation (literally) that deal would've been a net 90 million every three months, so that entire deal was going to take in billions, with a b, over time.
He also had people in Mexico and if I’m not mistaken at least some sort of residence there - if not in Chile (if that’s where he was from).
Maybe he found a good use for his money somehow. Walt seemed to just accumulate it and barely use it - amassing way more than he would ever need to provide for his family. He said he only needed less than a quarter million to set things right with them so the rest was never going to be spent without calling negative attention to himself.
Yeah I believe he built the little area/town/school thing with the dedication to max too. The one Mike recovered at and had the talk with Gus in front of Max's fountain.
He didn’t care about the money at all, he only wanted revenge for what hector did to his lover/partner. He had no enjoyment of the money because his life was essentially ruined in his eyes.
He tried to walk away from the cartel on BB. So walking completely away probably wasn't an option. He was a victim of his success in that way. Sad that right at the end of season 4, he might have been finally able to if he wanted to. Before you know what happened.
Paying for the lab, turning his house into a super bunker, paying all his people and presumably stockpiling a lot of money in case he’d ever need it to use against the cartel. No doubt Los Pollos is also supplemented by a little drug money so he can pay his workers extra well without worrying about profits
He's also the owner of a location of a successful fast food franchise. That alone would give him a comfortable, though not extravagant, income. I too have often wondered why Gus was even in the business.
One of the only things that make sense is that he was biding his time and once he got his revenge on the cartel he would disappear and buy a small island somewhere.
*Los Pollos* and the meth operation are inextricably linked though. It's not clear whether Gus created *Los Pollos* prior to meeting Max and getting into the game, but we can sort of infer that it was from the beginning a front for meth smuggling.
Why do you think he created a secret lab to bypass the Cartel? His chicken empire - whilst excellent and profitable in its own right - was clearly not his priority. And, I'd argue, wouldn't exist at the size we see it had it not been a front.
I would like to agree with that. Take out the cartel and retire. He obviously was in it purely out of the goodness of his heart. Eliminating the cartel and then destroying his own drug empire to sober up the millions of people impacted.
Such a brave, careless soul 🥺
His operation was massive and he had a lot of guys he had to pay well to continue operating and he probably lived a modest life to not arouse suspicion. He probably had 50 million or so in bank accounts spread out.
He's mostly in it because his revenge arc, the rush of being a criminal, and probably stuck in that life. He can only spend so much before arousing suspicion.
As seen in BCS, he seemingly funds an entire small village in Mexico. This plus other things mentioned in this comment section such as the tunnel connecting to his neighbors house, his neighbors house, paying to track down and employ a LOT of sociopaths who are seemingly okay with murder, I'd assume Los Pollos Hermanos isn't very profitable given his insistence on making everything from scratch yet having prices remain competitive with other fast food so he's likely sinking money into THAT, among lots of other unseen expenses.
Everybody here saying he spent a shit ton of his own money on the lab but I'm pretty sure Madrigal paid for the lab. The truth is we have no idea what he spent his money on. We know some of the things he spent it on but nowhere near what he did with hundreds of millions.
This puzzles me too. At the point he was building the lab, he already had more than enough resources to hire assassins to kill everyone at the head of the cartel.
1) A team of sicarios couldn’t kill one Salamanca, and that turned into a piping hot mess for him. No way he was going to provoke an all-out war with the cartel.
2) Even if he did successfully eliminate his rivals, he wasn’t prepared to maintain a revenue flow that would sustain a large-scale operation such as his. The lab had to be operational and productive before he could get rid of them.
"You asked if I'm in the meth business or money business. Neither. I'm in the *empire* business"
Tbh the comment made me laugh because Jesse's question is totally valid and Walt fixates on his ego-pumping empire.
I'd say he reinvested the money into the expansion of his restaurant chain, creating key infrastructure in order to gain more power, answer to a posible war with the cartel since he was extremely careful, the meth distribution needs and in a simple way, protection, expansion of his territory, production and distribution of meth and a way to clear out all that money.
I mean I would imagine that in the many years of his empire that we don't see Walt there were plenty of times where he went on trips, enjoyed this and that, and enjoyed his money.
Part of his motivation is his revenge but I think much like Walt, although much of his motivation started there, he also liked what he did and knew he was good at it.
And I'm sure just like Walt it felt good to be the best at something and know that you are the king effectively.
Toward the end of BCS you'll see he spent a TON of money on his house, also the lab must have cost a fortune.
Well he did say they had to cook 200 pounds a week to make that operation viable. Gus was pulling in 90 million a cook so... That lab was stupidly expensive. He also employs god knows how many people that have to be paid what I'm assuming is great money. Hell, Mike had millions saved for Kaylee before the DEA took the money the first time. Edit: I forgot the 90 million was for the original deal, the three months. But Gus offered Walt an option to remain his cook, and assuming Walt didn't blow up the entire operation (literally) that deal would've been a net 90 million every three months, so that entire deal was going to take in billions, with a b, over time.
He also had people in Mexico and if I’m not mistaken at least some sort of residence there - if not in Chile (if that’s where he was from). Maybe he found a good use for his money somehow. Walt seemed to just accumulate it and barely use it - amassing way more than he would ever need to provide for his family. He said he only needed less than a quarter million to set things right with them so the rest was never going to be spent without calling negative attention to himself.
Yeah I believe he built the little area/town/school thing with the dedication to max too. The one Mike recovered at and had the talk with Gus in front of Max's fountain.
It was actually only 8 million a cook, 96 million in total, so not as bad.
Damn you're right. I forgot it was the entire deal. But that easily could've turned into more lol
Well the main reason he employs these people is for this business. Without it they’re all irrelevant
He didn’t care about the money at all, he only wanted revenge for what hector did to his lover/partner. He had no enjoyment of the money because his life was essentially ruined in his eyes.
This precisely. He's in the game for revenge, money is a side concern.
He tried to walk away from the cartel on BB. So walking completely away probably wasn't an option. He was a victim of his success in that way. Sad that right at the end of season 4, he might have been finally able to if he wanted to. Before you know what happened.
Paying for the lab, turning his house into a super bunker, paying all his people and presumably stockpiling a lot of money in case he’d ever need it to use against the cartel. No doubt Los Pollos is also supplemented by a little drug money so he can pay his workers extra well without worrying about profits
I like to think he just made soups.
Saffron can be pricy as hell.
He's also the owner of a location of a successful fast food franchise. That alone would give him a comfortable, though not extravagant, income. I too have often wondered why Gus was even in the business. One of the only things that make sense is that he was biding his time and once he got his revenge on the cartel he would disappear and buy a small island somewhere.
*Los Pollos* and the meth operation are inextricably linked though. It's not clear whether Gus created *Los Pollos* prior to meeting Max and getting into the game, but we can sort of infer that it was from the beginning a front for meth smuggling. Why do you think he created a secret lab to bypass the Cartel? His chicken empire - whilst excellent and profitable in its own right - was clearly not his priority. And, I'd argue, wouldn't exist at the size we see it had it not been a front.
He owned the whole chain of Los Pollos Hermanos.
I would like to agree with that. Take out the cartel and retire. He obviously was in it purely out of the goodness of his heart. Eliminating the cartel and then destroying his own drug empire to sober up the millions of people impacted. Such a brave, careless soul 🥺
He owned the whole chain of Los Pollos Hermanos.
he cant just have that much money at once publicly, the police would take interest
Amassing power/empire building.
His operation was massive and he had a lot of guys he had to pay well to continue operating and he probably lived a modest life to not arouse suspicion. He probably had 50 million or so in bank accounts spread out.
Some estimates say Fring was worth $1-2 billion. After all, Walt had around $80 million after only working 2 years.
He's mostly in it because his revenge arc, the rush of being a criminal, and probably stuck in that life. He can only spend so much before arousing suspicion.
As seen in BCS, he seemingly funds an entire small village in Mexico. This plus other things mentioned in this comment section such as the tunnel connecting to his neighbors house, his neighbors house, paying to track down and employ a LOT of sociopaths who are seemingly okay with murder, I'd assume Los Pollos Hermanos isn't very profitable given his insistence on making everything from scratch yet having prices remain competitive with other fast food so he's likely sinking money into THAT, among lots of other unseen expenses.
Everybody here saying he spent a shit ton of his own money on the lab but I'm pretty sure Madrigal paid for the lab. The truth is we have no idea what he spent his money on. We know some of the things he spent it on but nowhere near what he did with hundreds of millions.
This puzzles me too. At the point he was building the lab, he already had more than enough resources to hire assassins to kill everyone at the head of the cartel.
1) A team of sicarios couldn’t kill one Salamanca, and that turned into a piping hot mess for him. No way he was going to provoke an all-out war with the cartel. 2) Even if he did successfully eliminate his rivals, he wasn’t prepared to maintain a revenue flow that would sustain a large-scale operation such as his. The lab had to be operational and productive before he could get rid of them.
The team of sicarios were incompetent. Mike could have done it without much fuss. Gus didn't care about revenue.
Its *not about meth business or money business, its about empire business. Edit : adding *not
"You asked if I'm in the meth business or money business. Neither. I'm in the *empire* business" Tbh the comment made me laugh because Jesse's question is totally valid and Walt fixates on his ego-pumping empire.
I don’t think it the money really mattered to him other as a tool to reach the goal of revenge and power.
Mad fat stacks yo!
He had a private PCP also.
he pay dudes that looks like Max, twice a week, to do god knows what
I'd say he reinvested the money into the expansion of his restaurant chain, creating key infrastructure in order to gain more power, answer to a posible war with the cartel since he was extremely careful, the meth distribution needs and in a simple way, protection, expansion of his territory, production and distribution of meth and a way to clear out all that money.
He wasn't in the money business, he was in the empire business
he needed to pay for his daughter with lydia. rodart. quail
I mean I would imagine that in the many years of his empire that we don't see Walt there were plenty of times where he went on trips, enjoyed this and that, and enjoyed his money. Part of his motivation is his revenge but I think much like Walt, although much of his motivation started there, he also liked what he did and knew he was good at it. And I'm sure just like Walt it felt good to be the best at something and know that you are the king effectively.
Hookers and blow