They may sit behind piles of cold hard cash - but the stars of Dragons’ Den are actually being handed money by BBC bosses.
Each week the Dragons part ways with their hard-earned cash in the hope of making more with the next big business idea.
While some of the deals fall through before the contracts are signed or fail to be a success, many go on to make millions for the business tycoons.
However, that's not the only source on income the Dragons get from the show as they are are actually paid to be there.
You would think that the chance to invest their money in budding entrepreneurs and exposure for their own companies would be enough.
But the Dragons are also getting paid just to sit in the Den - although one claimed the amount they get is a "pittance".
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Hilary Devey, who her fortune in freight haulage, launching her own company in 1996 and building it up into a highly successful firm, revealed how much they were given in February 2015.
The former Dragon said show bosses handed its panel of entrepreneurs £15,000 for 12 episodes, which seems more than reasonable.
But Hilary, who at the time was worth an estimated £100million, moaned the £1,250-a-day salary did not even cover her expenses.
When asked how much she was paid for her work on the programme, she told The Telegraph : "It’s a pittance.
"I can’t remember precisely but it’s something like £15,000 to do 12 episodes, and each episode means a 14/15-hour day.
"It doesn’t even cover your expenses. You make your money out of what you invest in."
While the Dragons may get into heated clashes when they compete to invest in the Den, there are certainly no rows over what each of them gets paid.
Deborah Meaden, who has been in the Den since the third series, previously explained that all the Dragons get paid exactly the same amount.
She spoke out in August 2017 after the BBC salaries were revealed and the corporation was left facing a huge public backlash after it revealed its highest-paid stars are raking in millions each year.
The stats showed that the gender pay gap was still too wide for comfort, but Deborah explained this wasn't the case on her show.
Following news that men employed by the BBC tend to receive a higher wage, Deborah spoke of her "terrible" the stats were but revealed she was on the same amount as her male counterparts.
During an appearance on today's Loose Women, she defiantly said: "I'm not a woman in the Den, I'm a Dragon, we're all there to invest, it has nothing to do with gender."
When asked by presenter Ayda Field whether she was paid the same as the Den men, Deborah said: "I know what the other Dragons are paid. We are all paid the same. We are all upfront about it.
"For me, the whole gender thing, it's terrible that people should be, whether it's gender or whatever, if you're doing a job and doing it well, you get paid the rate for the job.
"If you're doing a job and doing it well you should get paid the rate for the job. It's crazy to alienate."
Deborah claimed the world was moving in the right direction but more still needs to be done.
She continued: "It used to be that women didn't get the good jobs, they used to get the quite junior jobs. But it's got to move on. It's good it is being spoken about as if you talk about it, it gets fixed."
The Dragon also revealed that she has an even split on who she invests in - but had never really considered it.
Talking about her investments, she said: "I was asked if I invest more with men but I don't really think about it. I actually looked through and it's the same. My investments are 50/50 male and female."
Another former Dragon revealed that he "probably broke even" on his investments in the Den.
Duncan Bannatyne, who was one of the original Dragons, invested in 36 business proposals before announcing he was leaving after a decade in the chair in 2014.
The Scottish businessman completely cut ties with the show in 2016 when he announced that he had sold all of his shares in projects pitched on Dragons’ Den.
Speaking on Ruth Davidson’s LBC programme An Inconvenient Ruth in 2020, Duncan said he either "made a little bit" or broke even on Den business.
But he also said there was the added bonus of his Den appearances generating hundreds of thousands of pounds in publicity for his other businesses.
Asked about the success of his investments, he said: "I probably broke even, made a little bit, or broke even, but it became obvious to me that wasn’t where the money in this was.
"I remember talking to (fellow dragon) Theo Paphitis one day and we said that you know it’s worth £100,000 a year, the publicity that we get from it for our businesses."
Some of the other Dragons have made staggering amounts on the show, with Peter Jones investing a staggering total of £5,983,167 in fledgling businesses.
He is definitely most famous for putting his money into Reggae Reggae Sauce, which has turned Levi Roots into a millionaire himself.
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