Money

Tilman Fertitta tells TMZ Sports he's absolutely STOKED about buying the Houston Rockets -- explaining it's been a lifelong dream ... and he wants to bring Beyonce into the fold.

We spoke with the "Billion Dollar Buyer" star moments after it was announced he bought the NBA team for $2.2 BILLION ... and he told us he'll work his ass off to make Houston proud.

As far as Beyonce -- who was in the running to buy the team -- Tilman praises her as a wonderful ambassador for Houston and hopes she'll join his team "in some capacity."

"It would be great to have her involved in any way."

FYI, Fertitta has made a fortune in the restaurant business -- he owns Catch, Mastro's, Bubba Gump and the Rainforest Cafe spots -- and says he can't wait to come to L.A. to beat the Lakers and the Clippers.

Prince William and Kate have another reason to smile this week ... they just scored more than $200k in a lawsuit over topless pics of the Duchess of Cambridge.

A French court imposed maximum fines Tuesday against Closer magazine -- as well as its editor and owner -- for publishing topless photos of Kate in 2012. A judge ordered the magazine to pay $119,000 in damages. The editor and owner also have to cough up $53k each in fines.

The lawsuit stems from photos taken of Kate while she was sunbathing topless at a private villa in France. The royal family deemed the magazine spread an invasion of privacy, and Wills and Kate sued.

The court's ruling comes one day after the couple announced baby #3 is on the way. This oughta help cover that kid's college tuition.

Beyonce's hopes of buying the Houston Rockets just got pushed to the left ... to the left -- instead, the team will be sold to billionaire restaurateur Tilman Fertitta.

Fertitta will fork over a check to current owner Leslie Alexander for $2.2 BILLION, this according to ESPN.

Alexander bought the team for $85 mil in 1993 ... so, not a bad investment for that guy!

Fertitta is COUSINS with Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, the guys who made billions from the UFC -- but he was NOT an investor in that business.

Tilman is reportedly worth $3.1 billion, so says Forbes ... and stars in the CNBC reality show "Billion Dollar Buyer" -- where he buys blossoming companies.

Beyonce was rumored to be in the mix to buy the Rockets as part of an investment group -- but lost out ... despite support from her mother, who even posted a pic of B in a Rockets jersey over the weekend.

Toni Basil's hit music video for "Mickey" got jacked by JibJab so they could use it to cash in on their musical e-cards ... according to a new lawsuit filed by the singer.

According to the docs ... JibJab never checked to see who owned the music when it unveiled a "Mickey" promo vid in February 2017 that used Toni's voice, image and likeness.

She also claims JibJab used the "Mickey" e-card as a promo ad to get customers to subscribe to its other products and services. Translation -- it was a moneymaker.

Basil says she's become "despondent and physically ill" over this, and now suffers from sleep deprivation, nightmares and anxiety.

She's suing for damages and lost profits, and wants extra for her emotional distress.

JibJab claims it did obtain a license for the video, but honored her request to take it down once it learned she was in a separate dispute over the rights ... and will address her allegations in court if needed.

The "old" Taylor Swift may be dead, but the new one still wants to make a buck off her ... TMZ has learned.

T-Swift has filed to trademark a bunch of titles and catchphrases from her new album, "Reputation" -- for instance, the line, "The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now" from her single "Look What You Made Me Do" ... as well as the song title itself.

According to the docs, she wants to use the lyrics on a ton of merchandise ... like t-shirts, notebooks, guitar picks, jewelry, bags, and pretty much any other accessory a Swiftie could want.

We know Tay Tay's touring soon -- and now you have a better idea of what will be on her overpriced concert merch list.

Levi Miller's star has been on the rise since he landed the lead role of Peter in "Pan" ... and so has the kid's bank account -- we just learned he's bankin' some serious cash for his new flick.

The 14-year-old actor scored at least $150,000 to play the role of Calvin in "A Wrinkle in Time" -- the Disney flick starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Mindy Kaling and Oprah due out in March.

Calvin's one of the main kid characters in the movie, and on top of the $150k ... Levi's got a shot to make $75k more in bonuses if "A Wrinkle in Time" does well. Based on the star power and the Disney name ... we'd say he's got a good chance.

And get this -- if the movie gets a sequel, Levi's salary will more than double ... and he'll cash in $700k if there's another sequel after that.

He's going to be able to buy a really awesome car when he can finally drive.

Jidenna has reached the conclusion embraced by many -- that climate change is to blame for Hurricane Harvey.

We got the "Classic Man" rapper at LAX, and he presents compelling evidence ... devastating flooding all over the globe, including Sierra Leone.

He's not alone -- there's a mountain of evidence that the increase in frequency and scope of these natural disasters are no coincidence ... and it has to be rectified stat, or else.

Jidenna's on board ... but it sounds like he wants to tackle a massive solution one phone call at a time.

Matt Stafford's got a lot of haters after signing the biggest NFL contract EVER ... but one of Detroit's hottest rappers has his back!

Tee Grizzley's standin' up for his boy, Matt ... telling TMZ Sports the $135 million man is about to ball out for the Lions and prove he's worth every dollar.

Tee would know -- he says he's been chillin' with Stafford ... and the QB's coming into this season ready to take Detroit farther than the team's ever gone (so at least the 2nd round).

Fetty Wap just gave a few lucky random schoolkids the gift everyone loves -- cold hard cash.

The rapper was in a charitable mood Friday as he was leaving his attorneys' office in Hackensack, NJ ... and started handing out money on the streets. Our source on the scene says he was asking kids if they were in school, and if they said yes ... he'd hit 'em with a Benjamin or more.

We're told one lucky student walked away with $400 -- enough lunch money to last for weeks!!!

Lonnie Chavis, best known for playing little Randall on "This Is Us," could be making Floyd Mayweather money someday because little dude's only 9 and already raking in $1,000 a day.

In addition to his role on the hit NBC series, Lonnie got cast in a Disney flick called "Magic Camp" and a Showtime series called "White Famous."

According to his minor contract for "Magic Camp," Lonnie was guaranteed $14,368 for 14 days of work, and then $3,563 a week for any extra shooting, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

For "White Famous," which also stars 'SNL' alum Jay Pharoah, he's making $10k an episode, which usually take 10 days to shoot. The series got ordered for 9 episodes for the first season, so do the math and kid's almost covered college.

John F. Kennedy is about to make America wet all over again, 'cause his original swim trunks, jackets and other family items are up for auction ... starting at just a buck!

Guernsey's auction house is selling off some of JFK's personal items in October to commemorate what would have been the late Prez's 100th birthday -- even though he was born in May.

Some of the items being auctioned off include 3 of Jack's OG swim trunks, a couple of his coats, his U.S. flight jacket, his old rocking chair ... and even his kids' toothbrushes, bristles and all.

There are some Jackie O items up for grabs as well, such as her perfumes, belt, and one of her black lace mantillas -- which she wore to Robert Kennedy's funeral.

All the stuff is starting at a bid of just one dollar ... but something tells us it'll go for A LOT more.

President Trump is pledging $1 million of his own cash toward the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the donation Thursday, but it's still up in the air where exactly the money will go. Sanders said the President wanted reporters to help him decide which organization would maximize the impact of his funding.

Sanders cited the WH Press Corps' research skills and solid coverage of the disaster.

LaVar Ball is dropping the the price to be a Big Baller -- debuting a new BBB shoe, The Melo Ball 1 ... and it's only $395!!!!

LaVar is calling the shoe a "industry game changer" -- and says it was "meticulously designed and inspired by" his 16-year-old son LaMelo Ball.

The shoe looks different than his brother Lonzo Ball's ZO2 kicks, which retail for $495.

BBB is already taking pre-orders but says the shoes are expected to ship in December.

BBB says LaMelo is the youngest basketball player to ever have his own signature shoe -- "History has been made."

Of course, Jay-Z bought 3 pairs of Lonzo's shoe -- saying he wanted to support a black-owned family business. Wonder if he'll pony up for the Melos, too?

The J.J. Watt charity train keeps on rollin' ... as his Hurricane Harvey relief fund just broke $10 MILLION.

And a couple HUGE celebs helped him do it -- Ellen DeGeneres and Miley Cyrus!!

Ellen presented a check from Walmart for a cool $1 mil during a show taping on Wednesday -- adding to her previous personal donation of $50K.

Miley threw down $500K of her own ... and was pretty emotional as she discussed the tragedy in H-Town.

J.J., who FaceTimed into the show, said "I have no words" ... before promising their cash would go a long way toward helping victims.

Nate Diaz's boxing coach says his fighter needs BIG money ... or else he ain't coming back to fight Conor McGregor a third time.

How much?

"At least $20 million, $30 million,” Richard Perez told Submission Radio. "Come on. UFC’s making a whole lot of money."

"They’re giving more to McGregor, so it’s not fair because it takes two in that ring to draw a crowd."

Conor's been droppin' hints that a Diaz trilogy is what he wants for his UFC return -- basically challenging Nate to do the dance at 155 pounds for the belt.

Diaz seems down ... but clearly feels he deserves just as much scratch as his superstar rival.

There's more ... Perez says Nate will whoop on Conor if he gets through training camp uninjured -- which he says wasn't the case for their UFC 202 rematch -- and guarantees his boy is the better boxer of the two.

Shots fired.

Leonardo DiCaprio is one bashful humanitarian after shelling out a million bucks for victims of Harvey ... but that's still not throwing off his game with hot chicks.

We got Leo Wednesday night leaving TAO in Hollywood with a handful of ladies, and as they all board an SUV ... the actor tries sneaking past the cameras outside all incognito ... this after sending a whopping mil to the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund.