SortStack #654 — 2028-03-24

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. An average US movie theater ticket $11

   Theaters keep little of this — studios take most of the box office, which is why a bucket of popcorn can cost nearly as much as the seat.

2. An Xbox Series S console $349

   Microsoft has long sold consoles near or below manufacturing cost, betting on game sales and subscriptions to make the profit.

3. A Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliner at list price $120M

   Airlines almost never pay list price — discounts of around half are standard, which is why Boeing eventually stopped publishing its price sheet entirely.

4. One B-2 Spirit stealth bomber $737M

   Each B-2 must be kept in climate-controlled hangars to protect its radar-absorbing skin. Only 21 were ever built, each with its own name like 'Spirit of Missouri.'

5. Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise, when Disney bought them $4.1B

   George Lucas took much of the 2012 payment in Disney stock and has donated billions toward education — Disney recouped the price within a few films.

6. The Amazon stock MacKenzie Scott received in history's biggest divorce settlement $38B

   Scott has since given away billions at a record pace, often with no application process — charities report receiving surprise phone calls.

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