Obama once famously said: “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.” The year was 2010 and he was addressing what he perceived as greed on Wall Street.
Now that he’s entering the lucrative post-presidency portion of his career, he’s set to become an incredibly wealthy man. Both he and the former First Lady have reached a book deal worth tens of millions.
Politico reports:
Barack and Michelle Obama reach book dealPublisher Penguin Random House announced Tuesday it will publish books by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.The company has acquired worldwide publishing rights for two books, one from each of the Obamas. Terms of the agreement were not released, but the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the auction for the rights to the books reached more than $60 million, citing people with knowledge of the sales process.“With their words and their leadership, they changed the world, and every day, with the books we publish at Penguin Random House, we strive to do the same,” Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle said in a statement.
The New York Post offers some perspective on the size of the deal:
The former president and first lady are writing separate books, but selling them together, according to the Financial Times.Penguin Random House did not reveal any titles, publishing dates or other details about the works also were not immediately available.By contrast, publishers only plunked down $15 million for Bill Clinton’s 2004 autobiography “My Life” and $10 million for George W. Bush’s memoir “Decision Points,” according to past reports.At least four publishing firms — including HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster — are vying for the rights, sources told the paper.Penguin Random House has already published three other books by Barack Obama, including “Dreams from My Father,” which earned $6.8 million in royalties after it was released in 1995, The Hill reported.
It will be interesting to hear what Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren think of this development.
Featured image via YouTube.
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