A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
|
|
A look at the claims, predictions and behavior of a media "psychic".
|
Articles |
Articles PagesAdded Jul 18 2008Added Jul 11 2008Added Jul 10 2008Added Jul 09 2008Added Jul 07 2008Added Jul 02 2008Added Jun 25 2008Added Jun 08 2008Added May 31 2008Added May 26 2008Added May 25 2008Added May 13 2008Added Apr 28 2008Added Apr 21 2008Added Apr 09 2008Added Apr 04 2008Added Apr 02 2008Added Mar 31 2008Added Mar 20 2008Added Mar 19 2008Added Mar 03 2008Added Feb 27 2008Added Jan 31 2008Added Jan 30 2008Added Jan 16 2008Added Jan 07 2008Added Dec 30 2007Added Dec 15 2007Added Dec 13 2007Added Nov 28 2007Added Nov 20 2007Added Nov 08 2007Added Nov 04 2007Added Oct 27 2007Added Oct 19 2007Added Oct 10 2007Added Oct 07 2007Added Oct 05 2007Added Sep 23 2007Added Sep 21 2007Added Sep 10 2007Added Sep 03 2007Added Sep 01 2007Added Aug 22 2007Added Aug 19 2007Added Aug 17 2007Added Aug 15 2007Added Aug 14 2007Added Aug 08 2007Added Jul 12 2007Added Jul 08 2007Added Jun 29 2007Added Jun 11 2007Added May 30 2007Added May 29 2007Added May 26 2007
Added May 09 2007Added May 02 2007Added May 01 2007Added Apr 29 2007Added Apr 21 2007Added Apr 14 2007Added Apr 11 2007Added Apr 02 2007Added Mar 30 2007Added Mar 25 2007Added Mar 14 2007Added Mar 01 2007Added Feb 28 2007Added Feb 27 2007Added Feb 25 2007Added Feb 08 2007Added Feb 06 2007Added Feb 04 2007Added Jan 12 2007Added Jan 10 2007Added Jan 03 2007Added Dec 31 2006Added Dec 29 2006Added Dec 19 2006
Added Dec 14 2006Added Dec 07 2006Added Dec 05 2006Added Dec 03 2006Added Nov 29 2006Added Nov 27 2006
| Sylvia Browne's Money - Part 1Just how much money does Sylvia Browne make? Published: Mar 03, 2008  BackgroundOne thing which frequently comes up in discussions about Sylvia Browne is: how much money does she make from what she does? Many of her supporters believe that she lives a "simple life," giving the bulk of what she earns to charities, and to her church, Novus Spiritus. This article is the first in a series which will attempt to examine the truth of these matters. Browne's Income From ReadingsOne of her primary sources of income is the money she earns from her "readings." So, how much does she make from them? Let's do the math. How many readings does she do per day?First, we need to determine how many readings she does in a day. I have heard her say on the Montel Williams show that she does twenty readings every day, six days a week. But let's look at her own words... From her 2006 book Insight: Case Files From the Psychic World, on page 66:
From her 2000 book Blessings From the Other Side, page 128:
From her 2003 book Visits From the Afterlife, page 187:
It is also important to note that she has said that these twenty readings per day are separate from her pro bono (free) readings she claims to give, such as, supposedly, to law enforcement. For purposes of this article, we will take her word at the number of readings she does per day. How much does she charge per reading?Her phone readings currently run $750 for a 20-30 minute reading (although people have reported to me that it is often far shorter than even twenty minutes). She has more expensive readings. For $1,000, you can attend a "Spiritual Salon," which includes a brief session where Sylvia will answer (I've been told) three questions from you. Her fee for a face-to-face reading is not listed on her site, and perhaps she does not do them any more, but I have been told that the price for one is in the neighborhood of $2,000. For the purposes of our calculations, we'll assume that all of her readings are the least expensive ones. How much does she earn from readings per day?Let's do the math...
How many days does she work in a week?In that Montel appearance, she stated that she does readings six days per week. Her above remark about occasionally doing twenty readings on Sundays seems to imply that she sometimes works seven days a week. But again, let's go with the low figure, and say that she only does readings five days per week. How much does she earn from readings in a week?Let's do the math...
How many weeks does she work in a year?When she speaks of averaging "twenty clients a day for fifty years," it implies to me that she works every day, meaning every week. But again, to be fair, I will use a lower figure. I find no reference to this in her books, so I am arbitrarily going to say she takes twelve weeks off every year, and so does readings only 40 weeks out of the year. How much does she earn from readings in a year?Let's do the math...
LowballingNote that the three million dollar figure was arrived at by "lowballing" - using the low value in each step of our calculations. Had we assumed a higher value at any of these steps, our estimated total would have risen accordingly. For example, if we had used six days per week (as she herself says), it would come to $3,600,000.00 per year. Or, if we had assumed she worked 52 weeks a year instead of 40, it would come to $3,900,000.00 per year, and so on. If we had assumed six days per week and 52 weeks per year, is would come to $4,680,000.00 per year, and so on. Other Sources of IncomeRemember, the above estimated income is only from her readings, which is just one of the many sources of Browne's income. I find no information on how much these bring in, but merely list some of them here.
... as well as her line of jewelry, her cruises, and more. AnalysisHow accurate is our estimate of Browne's income from readings? After all, there are a lot of assumptions in the above calculations. One way of gauging whether our estimate is "in the ballpark" would be to compare it to the reported income of her son, Christopher Dufresne. In 2001, Dufresne filed papers in relation to his then-ongoing divorce (Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, Case Number 1-00-FL091095). In the Income and Expense Declaration document, filed October 8 of 2001, Dufresne estimated his gross monthly income from Sylvia Browne Corp. to be $80,000.00, giving him an estimated annual gross income of $960,000.00. This was in 2001, when his phone readings were only $350.00. If we extrapolate from that, given his current rate of $500 per reading, we get a gross annual income of over $1,370,000.00. Dufresne's waiting list is far shorter than his mother's (his is several months long. Hers, we are told, is measured in years), so I think it likely that he does fewer readings in a year than his mother does. Combine that with his lower rate ($500 vs. her $750), and I think that our estimate of her annual gross income from readings at three million dollars looks like it is in the ball park. ConclusionAgain, I would like to stress that the calculations above are all estimates, but they are based on her own statements. Any way you look at it, it would appear that Browne personally brings in millions of dollars per year. So, where does all of these millions go? Does Browne really live a humble and simple life, as she claims? Does she really give most of her money to her church and charities, as she states? I will be investigating these and other related matters in future articles in this series. Related LinksClicking on any of these links will load a separate browser window for viewing the linked page. StopSylviaBrowne.com is not responsible for the content of any of these linked pages.
| On This Page
|
top of page