William Shatner has struck it rich, but not just by playing Captain James T Kirk in Star Trek.
It's revealed the 79-year-old actor has made a fortune from a most unlikely source as the voice and face of an online travel company.
A smart bit of contract negotiation in 1997 has meant that the star is estimated to have earned $600m (£397m) from advertisements for Priceline.com.
The astonishing sum is down to Shatner agreeing to take shares as part of his payment.
At first shares fell during the dot-com bust to $1.80 in 2000. But over the last ten years the firm's fortunes have turned around and the shares are now worth almost $300 each.
While Priceline has not said how much Shatner is paid, reports from Wall Street have put his fortune at $600m, according to The Times.
In the advertisements, Shatner plays the role of the Priceline Negotiator whose sole concern in life is to save customers money.
The commercials have become a hit on YouTube, mainly because of Shatner's willingness to make fun of himself.
In one ad he is fired by Priceline and replaced by Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr Spock in Star Trek. Shatner’s early adverts for the company parodied his musical career, which began with the 1968 album The Transformed Man, in which he half-talked, half-sang his way through various songs including Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
Popular: Shatner as The Negotiator on Priceline's website
The recording regularly ranks in lists of the worst albums ever made. But Shatner now ranks as one of the richest actors in the world.
And last night Shatner was looking every inch the wealthy septuagenarian in a fetching panama hat as he partied in New York with David Hasselhoff at an event for the cable entertainment network A&E.
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