How To Make Money, Shatner-Style

William Shatner (James T. Kirk) made an appearance in Toronto yesterday to promote a new service that allows cell phone video calls, and used the opportunity to look back at his Trek career -- and provide some rare insight in his investing strategies.

"Don't buy anything that eats while you sleep," was the unusual advice that Catherine McLean at the Globe and Mail was able to obtain from Shatner. The actor was referring to the horses he owns in Kentucky, and which never turned out to be a great financial investment. But Shatner seemed alright with that, saying the horses were a "passion" rather than a way to make the money, and adding that his ranch had actually seen a good increase in value. "If you had the hindsight, real estate would have been a really good investment."

But possibly the best investment Shatner ever made was into his own acting career, which has over the past years enabled him to land well-paying spokesmanships for companies such as PriceLine, DaimlerChrysler and now Canadian cell phone company Rogers Wireless. "The benefits are interest, challenges, and income," Shatner said. In a separate interview with the Ottawa Sun, he expanded on his interest in Rogers' new video-calling product, saying that he thinks "that this phone exceeds the imagination of Star Trek. [...] This fact exceeds the fiction."

Prior to Shatner's appearance before a group of Canadian journalists, Rogers showed a cell phone video clip of Shatner's infamous rendition of Elton John's "Rocket Man." Shatner was then happy to answer questions about investing and video calling, but also about his Trek co-stars. "I don’t see them really anymore. The only one I really see is Leonard Nimoy (Spock), and he’s very happy for me."

For more from Shatner, head over to the full articles in the Globe and Mail, Ottawa Sun and the Cape Breton Post.

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