Samuel Langhorn Clemens, popularly known as Mark Twain, was a humorist and author of novels such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Twain, however, was not a very good businessman—he invested much of his fortune in failed inventions. His biggest losses were from a machine called the Paige Compositor, a type of mechanical typesetter. He spent nearly $8 million in today's money to perfect the device, which broke down regularly. By the time it was launched, it was already obsolete due to the invention of the Linotype. At one point, Twain had to live in a $1.50 a night flophouse while he recovered from debt. Like Mr. Joel, Twain was forced to go on tour around the world to pay his debts.