Netflix Is Paying Alex Honnold An "Embarrassingly Small Amount" To Free Solo Taipei 101 Tonight

Tonight (technically tomorrow morning in Taipei), Alex Honnold will attempt the riskiest and most high-profile climb of his career: a rope-free ascent of Taipei 101, the 1,667-foot skyscraper in Taiwan. He will do the climb with no safety equipment at all. No rope, no net, no harness. If he falls, he dies. It's that simple.

The climb will be broadcast live starting at 8 PM ET on Netflix as part of the event titled "Skyscraper Live." Well, technically, the event will be broadcast live with a built-in 10-second delay. Why 10 seconds? Because if he falls, that's how long it would take him to hit the ground and die. Seriously. Someone did the math, and that's how Netflix chose the delay time.

Given the scale of the spectacle and the actual mortal danger involved, you might assume Alex's Netflix payday is enormous. How much would you demand to free climb Taipei 101? How much would you demand if you were literally the most famous climber in the world? And if you, like Alex, had two children under the age of 4? Also, this is being broadcast on Netflix, not PBS! On that note, consider the following:

Just a few weeks ago, Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua reportedly each made $92 million for their boxing event, which was broadcast live on… Netflix. Some of that money came from sponsorships, but if that amount is roughly accurate, the majority came from Netflix.

Or consider these confirmed paydays Netflix has given to a variety of movie stars to produce films, which I'm betting most readers have never seen and maybe have never even heard of:

• For the Netflix movie "Red Notice," The Rock was paid $23.5 million while his co-stars, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, each made $20 million. This movie currently sports a 37% Rotten Tomatoes score.
• Will Smith was paid $20 million for a Netflix movie called "Bright," which currently enjoys a 26% Rotten Tomatoes score. He was set to make $35 million for a sequel, but after his Chris Rock Oscars slap incident, Netflix pulled out.
• Ryan Reynolds made $27 million to star in a movie called "6 Underground," which currently has a 36% Rotten Tomatoes score.
• Adam Sandler essentially makes $60 million every time he does a movie for Netflix. And, in my opinion, not one is even remotely watchable.

Be honest, have you seen ANY of those movies? If so, did you have an enjoyable experience? I'll admit, I watched "Happy Gilmore 2." I was not amused.

If Netflix is willing to set $20 million on fire for a forgettable piece of crap movie, surely they would be willing to back up a Brinks truck for Alex Honnold to risk his life free climbing Taipei 101, right?

An Embarrassing Amount

(Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

In a recent New York Times interview, Alex was asked directly how much he was getting paid. Alex describes the payday as an "embarrassingly small amount." The interviewer follows up with:

"Ten?"

To which Alex replies, "Million? No! So in that case, yeah, an embarrassingly small amount."

Someone with direct knowledge of the arrangement later told the NY Times that Alex will be paid in the mid-six figures. As in, a couple hundred grand. Call it $500k. That's pre-tax. Alex lives in Nevada, so no state tax, but after Uncle Sam, he'll take home around $350k.

In a follow-up, Alex clarified the arrangement even more. Netflix is not paying Honnold to climb Taipei 101. They are paying him for the production, the broadcast rights, the spectacle, and the global audience that comes with watching a human being attempt something that has never been done before, knowing that one small mistake would be fatal. Honnold himself has been explicit about this distinction. If the building had simply given him permission to climb without cameras, contracts, or publicity, he says he would have done it anyway.

"I'm climbing the building for free," he explained. "I'm getting paid for the spectacle."

If all goes well and there's another climb in the future, Alex, please, please, please ask for more money.