Chelsea Clinton: Is She Worth $75,000 An Hour (For Speaking)?
Chelsea Clinton gets paid up to $75,000 for each speaking engagement she undertakes.
Does that figure surprise you? Well, many political commentators and media pundits are astonished! But why this reaction? After all, daughter Chelsea is only following the family tradition set by her parents.
For example, dad Bill Clinton, 67, has been paid $104.9 million for 542 speeches around the world between January 2001, when he left the White House, and January 2013, according to a Washington Post review of the family’s federal financial disclosures. The maximum he received for a single speech was reported to be $800,000.
Mother Hillary, 66, is not quite in that league (who is?) but she is reputed to have received up to $225,000 for a single speech.
So, 34 year-old Chelsea has some way to go yet. Her spokesperson, Kamyl Bazbaz, was anxious to emphasize that most of Chelsea Clinton’s speaking engagements were in association with the Clinton Foundation, and that’s where the money goes. Bazbaz told the New York Times that Chelsea’s speeches were all “on behalf of the Clinton Foundation, and 100 percent of the fees are remitted directly to the foundation.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary has come in for considerable criticism in connection with her husband’s post-White House wealth. The question being asked: Does earning so much money leave her out of touch with the American electorate? This is especially relevant to her anticipated run for the Presidency in 2016.
Interestingly, other leading politicians, such as Jeb Bush, Colin Powell, and Madeline Albright, earn significantly less on the speaking circuit — Bush, for example, gets only (!) $50,000 per speech. The contrast is significant because Chelsea has never held public office.
Chelsea Clinton recently gave up her lucrative position with MSNBC ($600.000 per year) to play a more active role in the Clinton Foundation. There is a suggestion that she may be preparing herself for a future political run.
At the end of the day, what really matters is that Chelsea is a Clinton, and this family has turned making money into an art form!
[Image: www.businessinsider.com]
