Q: When Bill and Hillary Clinton left the White House, she said they were dead broke. Now she is worth $200 million and their daughter Chelsea is worth $15 million. How did she earn $200 million in such a short time?
—Andy Sims, Douglasville
A: Hillary Clinton, in a 2014 interview, regretted making that statement in 2001, but reiterated that it was correct.
Bill Clinton quickly began earning fees of at least $125,000 per speaking appearance, upon leaving office in 2001, PolitiFact reported two years ago.
He made 57 speeches that year, NPR.com reported, and earned $13.7 million with his “speaking and writing” business.
He had made about $100 million in speaking fees by 2014, Forbes.com reported, and CNN.com reported in February 2016, that the Clintons had combined to give 729 speeches between February 2001 and May 2015, at an average of $210,795 per appearance.
Their combined speech income from April 2013 to March 2015 was more than $21.6 million, CNN.com reported.
Hillary Clinton signed an $8 million book deal in 2001 for “Living History” and Bill Clinton received a $10 million advance in 2004 for his memoir, called “My Life.”
She received a reported $14 million advance in 2014 for “Hard Choices.”
The Clintons earned more than $229 million from speaking, writing, consulting and advising fees from 2001-14, Forbes.com reported in October 2015.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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