MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
March 26 – April 2, 2009 Edition
Rich President Obama Earns
$8.6 Million in Book Royalties
While President Obama scolds business executives for exorbitant salaries and bonuses, and threatens to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, he will have to count himself a member of that group, according to a March 19 article in The New York Times by Jeff Zeleny. According to The Times, Obama’s books have earned him a whopping $8,605,429 and counting.
A disclosure form filed March 17, he signed yet another new $500,000 book deal five days before his January swearing in as President.
Aides told The Times that Mr. Obama would receive $250,000 of that for an adaptation of his autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” for young readers. The other $250,000 will go to the publisher in the deal, which was first reported Thursday by The Washington Times.
“The publishing agreement was not announced by the White House but was noted in a routine financial disclosure form in the Senate Office of Public Records. It is the latest indicator of how Mr. Obama has profited from his books as the reach of his celebrity has grown,” The Times noted.
A review by The Times of Mr. Obama’s disclosure reports since he arrived in Washington four years ago as a senator from Illinois shows a rapid ascent in his wealth, thanks to his work as a best-selling author. In 2005, he reported royalties of $1.23 million and in 2006, $572,490. In 2007, after his second book was published, royalties increased to $4.1 million. They were $2.46 million in 2008.
