Barack Obama to be paid $400,000 for speech at Wall Street event

In a 2009 interview Obama criticised Wall Street bankers


News Desk April 26, 2017
Former US President Barack Obama. PHOTO: REUTERS

What do US Presidents do once they leave office? They get paid a hefty amount to speak at private speaking engagements.

Less than 100 days out of office, Barack Obama has agreed to speak at an upcoming healthcare conference for a Wall Street financial firm in September. He will be paid $400,000 for his speech, Fox Business reported.

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Obama will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon and will receive twice the amount Hillary Clinton would for the same amount.

The conference will be attended by "fat cats" whom Obama once criticised for their "irresponsible actions" in the 2008 financial crisis. In a 2009 interview with CBS, Obama criticised Wall Street bankers saying, "You guys are drawing down $10-, $20-million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year that it's gone through in decades, and you guys caused the problem. And we've got 10% unemployment. Why do you think people might be a little frustrated?"

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According to Vice, it's relatively normal for former politicians to charge high fees for private speeches. Former president Bill Clinton reportedly fetched $750,000 for a single speech and George W Bush charges between $100,00 and $150,000. Even ex Governer of Alaska Sarah Palin was paid $100,000 for a speech.

However, this pales in comparision to the fact that many companies were willing to pay up to $1.5m to hear Donald Trump talk, as reported by Forbes in 2008.

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