‘Famous’ actors making millions like Donald Trump joined the SAG because they thought it was a net benefit to them. One of the major benefits is protection from those vary same managers which have historically often acted in their own interest rather than their clients.

Another benefit that seems minor to multi millionaires but occasion really makes a huge difference in these people’s lives is a significant pension. It’s unfortunately common for very rich actors to end up broke at some point making the security of knowing you’re never going to be poor even if they don’t stay rich a huge deal. That’s something managers can’t negotiate on a film by film basis and it’s an example where minimizing downsides becomes more valuable than maximizing total compensation.