A) Moving to a state with no income tax for half a year. But that just saves upwards of 12%.
B) Having more than 7M in already-taxed money and spending that on things that supported his own business. When you are doing something you love it feels no different than consumptive spending on a bunch of toys. The spending is tax deductible against the 7M he earned that year. Nothing goes to the government. Ideally he monetizes it to a greater amount in a future year and pays taxes in that future, but its only his problem if he doesn't monetize.
C) Having more than 7M in borrowed funds and spending that on things that supported his own business. Now both the spending and the interest payments are tax deductible against the 7M he earned that year. Nothing, goes to the government. Ideally he monetizes it to a greater amount in a future year and pays taxes in that future, but its only his problem if he doesn't monetize, and maybe the people he borrowed from.
D) Constructively structuring the payment as a capital gain, and moving to Puerto Rico under Act 60. This nullifies state and federal tax, while staying compliant under the federal government and the territory and prior state. This would involve talking with the organization that would pay you, maybe they could give you a share grant of the same amount, or of a discounted product they sell. Distinctly not 5 minutes. This actually might be easy since the royalty rights can already be bought and sold separately than the royalty payment.
E) Selling the rights to royalties to your own private foundation. 5 minutes if you already have a private foundation. Not 5 minutes if you don't. If you want to be liquid you can always pay yourself a modest or fantastic salary from the foundation, which is taxed. Either way, now you only need tax deductions against the much smaller salary while the rest of the liquidity can be invested or just sit there. (There is something equivalent to a 2% tax on the royalty received, and an annual 5% charitable contribution requirement. Still better than 12% and much better than 37% + 12% + self employment tax%)
as you might notice, all of this works no matter what the tax rates are or become, but people in your party that know this will nod and agree with whatever sentiment you have anyway. The politics typically only results in taxing salaried employees slightly higher or slightly lower.
so, most people would be prepared for option A) but its not hard to structure your life for the other options to become options. the trickier part is the big payment. its not supposed to be a "tax dodge" its just understanding why the tax rate can be 0%. Many people's tax experience is opening up Turbotax and crossing their fingers for a refund as the numbers spin like a slot machine, others of us know exactly what should be computed and have pushed chess pieces all year for it.