President Clinton Earned $10M For Speeches Last Year
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President Clinton traveled the globe last year, making more than $10 million giving speeches at corporate retreats, trade group gatherings and motivational venues.
The speaking engagements and their top-dollar fees were detailed in Senator Clinton’s Senate financial disclosure report, made public yesterday. The report showed that the former president and his presidency-seeking wife had assets of at least $10 million, but could have as much as $50 million with no liabilities.
When it comes to family affluence, the reports show that the New York senator is the wealthiest of all members of Congress seeking the presidency. Among all presidential candidates, however, Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, stands alone with assets of between $190 million and $250 million. Mayor Giuliani and Democrat John Edwards have each reported assets of about $30 million.
The reports yesterday represent a second wave of financial disclosures by presidential candidates. Most already filed last month with the Federal Election Commission and the Office of Government Ethics. Among the leading candidates, however, Mrs. Clinton, Senator McCain of Arizona, and Mr. Romney received extensions because the Office of Government Ethics wants them to open up their blind trusts.
The reports filed with the Senate by Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain list the blind trusts, but don’t disclose what is in them. Mrs. Clinton’s blind trust holds between $5 million and $10 million. A blind trust in the name of Mr. McCain’s wife, Cindy, has between $500,000 and $1 million.
Mrs. Clinton’s speech income, while lucrative, is hardly unusual among politicians. Giuliani, in a financial disclosure report filed last month, reported grossing $11.4 million for speeches last year. Mr. Edwards said he made $395,000 in paid speeches, most at colleges.
But Mr. Clinton, who earned fees from $100,000 to $450,000, commands far more a speech than Messrs. Giuliani or Edwards. He has been paid speaking fees by such corporations as IBM, General Motors, and Cisco Systems and trade groups such as the National Association of Realtors and the Mortgage Bankers Association.
He also was paid for speeches to at least two charity events — $75,000 to address the TJ Martell Foundation, which finances leukemia research, and $150,000 in a speech in Toronto on behalf of Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund.
The former president was particularly popular abroad. During one four-day stretch last September, he was in England, Ireland, South Africa, Germany, and Denmark. The trip yielded $1.74 million in speaking fees.
Mr. Clinton, who also performs charitable work through the Clinton Family Foundation, has made no secret of his desire to build up his income now to be free to help his wife in the future. His $10.2 million in speaking fees last year was a 36% increase over his speech income in 2005.
“I’ve tried to get in a position where, you know, … I’ll be able to do what she did when I was president — that is, I don’t want to spend any time making a living,” Mr. Clinton said in an interview on CNN last month.
The former president’s earnings must be reported as the spouse of a senator. Disclosure rules do not require him to reveal everything. Senator Clinton’s report did not have to say how much he earns as a partner with Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund, a Los Angelesbased investment firm founded by longtime Clinton fund-raiser Ron Burkle.
According to yesterday’s financial disclosure forms, the Clintons hold two accounts, each valued at somewhere between $5 and $25 million. One is a bank deposit account; the other the blind trust.
Senate rules only require members to value their assets in dollar ranges, so it is difficult to determine the exact worth of a politician.
Other reports filed by presidential candidates who are in Congress show:
• Mr. McCain’s family wealth is almost exclusively held by his wife. An heiress to a major beer distribution company, Cindy McCain has several trust funds, money markets and other accounts, some worth more than $1 million.
• Senator Obama, a Democrat of Illinois, and his wife, Michelle, have assets ranging from $460,000 to $1.1 million. Those assets don’t include options on 4,500 shares that have not yet vested in Tree House Foods, a food distribution firm on whose board Michelle Obama served. Michelle Obama stepped down from the board last month.
• Senator Dodd, a Democrat of Connecticut, has a cottage in County Galway, Ireland, worth between $100,001 and $250,000. He reported earning rent from the cottage of between $5,001 and $15,000. His wife, Jackie, has money market funds, IRAs and stock in companies, including Blockbuster Inc.
• Senator Biden, a Democrat of Delaware, has bank accounts and life insurance policies worth between $19,000 and $110,000. He receives a teaching stipend from Widener University, where he has been an adjunct law professor since 1991. His wife teaches at the Delaware Technical and Community College.