George Clooney Sold His Wedding Photo Rights To The Highest Bidder

George Clooney tied the knot Saturday to Amal Alamuddin in a lavish, star-studded ceremony in Venice, Italy.

On Tuesday, the couple's wedding photos were released simultaneously on People.com and Hello! - the two outlets that paid the most for the pictures.

According to TMZ sources familiar with the sale, "it was strictly an issue of which mag anted up the most. People won the North America market and Hello! conquered Europe."

The money will reportedly be going to several human rights charities, including Clooney's Satellite Sentinel Project, a charity that monitors the Sudan for war crimes.

One source connected to Clooney told TMZ that "every photo in both magazines will be saving a life."

While the amount the magazines paid for the pictures has not been released, it is assumed to be in the millions, based on other A-list, exclusive photos of weddings and babies.

In 2008, People magazine and HELLO! did a similar, $15 million deal for the exclusive rights to the first photos of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt. People

Check out Wikipedia's list of the most expensive celebrity photos below. Clooney's new wedding photos are likely at the top of this list:

Wikipedia

"These magazines are willing to cough up millions because exclusive photos can set themselves apart in a field thick with competition-in print, on the tube and on the Web," writes Forbes. "Is it worth it? They think so."