That's the reason Bill Clinton recently gave for why he is not going to quit giving paid speeches while his wife runs for President. Apparently he said it sometime before May 4, but it was reported again in today's Washington Post, in an article currently titled "Clintons have made more than $25 million for speaking since January 2014." I could have sworn that when I started writing this post (just a few minutes ago), the title of the article used the word "earned." And sure enough, the url still says "earn": http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clintons-earn-more-than-25-million-in-speaking-fees-since-january-2014/2015/05/15/52605fbe-fb4d-11e4-9ef4-1bb7ce3b3fb7_story.html, at least as of this moment.
It's interesting to note how various other news outlets characterize the Clintons' take:
I'd tend to go with the Japan Times -- they raked it in.
My point is that it's very hard for me to understand how in any sense of the word Bill or Hillary "earned" the money they were paid as speaking fees.
To be fair, the word "earn" has multiple definitions:
Ok, I added that last one.
But that's my point -- we are really stretching the definition of "earn" when somebody is routinely given $250,000 for giving a one-hour speech. Nobody is that good a speaker. Nobody.
So who is giving them this kind of money?
Here is the full list of speeches:
Basically and unsurprisingly, it's almost all corporations Drug companies, insurance companies, tech companies, and, of course, banks. And as everybody knows, corporations have an obligation to try to make money for their shareholders, not give it away. I wonder what the defense would be if someone were to bring a shareholder's derivative suit against, say, Qualcomm, for wasting $335,000 on a Bill Clinton speech. Would the defense be that the company needed to have him in there to motivate the employees? Or that he had some information that could help the employees become more proficient at their jobs? Not likely -- the answer would almost certainly be that the money was "invested" in the possibility that Bill or Hillary would one day be in a position to help Qualcomm out.
But maybe the speeches are really really good, as one might infer from Deutsche Bank, which apparently can't get enough of the Clintons. Bill got $270,000 for a speech in Boston on August 27, and $150,000 for a speech in New York on September 9. But that left them hungering for Hillary, who scooped up another $280,000 on October 7.
I initially found those four $181,250 MPSF events over Feb. 2-5 by Bill a bit suspicious, but those may well be the most "innocent" speeches of the lot. MPSF is some kind of a speaker series, and year after year, they have reasonably famous people out there speaking. Bill spoke there before in 2002, at $100,000 each for three speeches.
Clearly, his overall fee for this 2015 "work" was $725,000, and he divided it over 4 events. I haven't quite figured it out, but it looks like he really did give four speeches in a row, including one on a Monday in Marin, and another on a Thursday in the same place (subscribers can choose the Monday or Thursday option). Here's their website (https://order.speakerseries.net/); you can click around to get some information about past events (http://speakerseries.net/speakers/previous-series/).
These recent disclosures also reminded me about Chelsea Clinton's $75,000 speeches, which the Daily Show tells me are mostly about diarrhea http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/sx65zl/hillary-s-democratic-opponent---dirty-donating). To her credit, her fees are apparently going to the Clinton Foundation. Of course, she doesn't really need the money -- up until recently, she's been "earning" $600,000 a year at NBC.
Anyway, back to the beginning -- "I gotta pay our bills"?? What kind of bills are they getting? Each of these people "earns" more in one hour than 99 percent of the rest of us earn in an entire year. They only had one kid, and that kid is long through college, and is making a pretty good living herself (see above).
It's interesting to note how various other news outlets characterize the Clintons' take:
I'd tend to go with the Japan Times -- they raked it in.
My point is that it's very hard for me to understand how in any sense of the word Bill or Hillary "earned" the money they were paid as speaking fees.
To be fair, the word "earn" has multiple definitions:
earnərn/
verb(of a person) obtain (money) in return for labor or services.
"they earn $35 per hour"
(of an activity or action) cause (someone) to obtain (money).
synonyms: be paid, take home, gross, net; More
"this latest win earned them $50,000 in prize money"
(of capital invested) gain (money) as interest or profit.
(of the Clintons) gain money in exchange for prospect of future influence.
Ok, I added that last one.
But that's my point -- we are really stretching the definition of "earn" when somebody is routinely given $250,000 for giving a one-hour speech. Nobody is that good a speaker. Nobody.
So who is giving them this kind of money?
Here is the full list of speeches:
Hillary Clinton’s speeches:
| Speech | Date | Location | Fee |
| GE | 1/6/2014 | Boca Raton, Fl. | $225,500 |
| National Automobile Dealers Association | 1/27/2014 | New Orleans, La. | $325,500 |
| Premier Health Alliance | 1/27/2014 | Miami, Fl. | $225,500 |
| Salesforce.com | 2/6/2014 | Las Vegas, Nv. | $225,500 |
| Novo Nordisk A/S | 2/17/2014 | Mexico City, Mexico | 125,000 |
| Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society | 2/26/2014 | Orlando, Fl. | $225,500 |
| A&E Television Networks | 2/27/2014 | New York, N.Y. | 280,000 |
| Association of Corporate Counsel - Southern California | 3/4/2014 | Los Angeles, Ca. | $225,500 |
| The Vancouver Board of Trade | 3/5/2014 | Vancouver, Canada | $275,500 |
| tinePublic Inc. | 3/6/2014 | Calgary, Canada | $225,500 |
| Pharmaceutical Care Management Association | 3/13/2014 | Orlando, Fl. | $225,500 |
| Drug Chemical and Associated Technologies | 3/13/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| Xerox Corporation | 3/18/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $225,000 |
| Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal | 3/18/2014 | Montreal, Canada | $275,000 |
| Academic Partnerships | 3/24/2014 | Dallas, Tx. | $225,500 |
| Marketo Inc. | 4/8/2014 | San Francisco, Ca. | $225,500 |
| World Affairs Council | 4/8/2014 | Portland, Or. | $250,500 |
| Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. | 4/10/2014 | Las Vegas, Nv. | $225,500 |
| 4/10/2014 | San Jose, Ca. | $265,000 | |
| California Medical Association (via satellite) | 4/11/2014 | San Diego, Ca. | $100,000 |
| National Council for Behavioral Healthcare | 5/6/2014 | Washington D.C. | $225,500 |
| International Deli-Dairy-Bakery Association | 6/2/2014 | Denver, Co. | $225,500 |
| 6/2/2014 | Denver, Co. | $265,000 | |
| United Fresh Produce Association | 6/10/2014 | Chicago, Il. | $225,000 |
| tinePublic Inc. | 6/16/2014 | Toronto, Canada | $150,000 |
| tinePublic Inc. | 6/18/2014 | Edmonton, Canada | $100,000 |
| Innovation Arts and Entertainment | 6/20/2014 | Austin, Tx. | $150,000 |
| Biotechnology Industry Organization | 6/25/2014 | San Diego, Ca. | $335,000 |
| Innovation Arts and Entertainment | 6/25/2014 | San Francisco, Ca. | $150,000 |
| GTCR | 6/26/2014 | Chicago, Il. | $280,000 |
| Knewton, Inc. | 7/22/2014 | San Francisco, Ca. | $225,500 |
| Ameriprise | 7/26/2014 | Boston, Ma. | $225,500 |
| Corning, Inc. | 7/29/2014 | Corning, N.Y. | $225,500 |
| Nexenta Systems, Inc. | 8/28/2014 | San Francisco, Ca. | $300,000 |
| Cisco | 8/28/2014 | Las Vegas, Nv. | $325,000 |
| Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP | 9/4/2014 | San Diego, Ca. | $225,500 |
| Caridovascular Research Foundation | 9/15/2014 | Washington D.C. | $275,000 |
| Commercial Real Estate Women Network | 10/2/2014 | Miami Beach, Fl. | $225,500 |
| Canada 2020 | 10/6/2014 | Ottawa, Canada | $215,500 |
| Deutsche Bank AG | 10/7/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $280,000 |
| Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) | 10/8/2014 | Chicago, Il. | $265,000 |
| Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers | 10/13/2014 | Colorado Springs, Co. | $225,500 |
| Salesforce.com | 10/14/2014 | San Francisco, Ca. | $225,500 |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | 10/14/2014 | San Diego, Ca. | $335,000 |
| Massachusetts Conference for Women | 12/4/2014 | Boston, Ma. | $205,500 |
| tinePublic Inc. | 1/21/2015 | Winnipeg, Canada | $262,000 |
| tinePublic Inc. | 1/21/2015 | Saskatoon, Canada | $262,500 |
| Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | 1/22/2015 | Whistler, Canada | $150,000 |
| 2/24/2015 | Santa Clara, Ca. | $225,500 | |
| eBay Inc. | 3/11/2015 | San Jose, Ca. | $315,000 |
| American Camping Association | 3/19/2015 | Atlantic City, N.J. | $260,000 |
| TOTAL | $11,987,000 |
Bill Clinton’s speeches:
| Speech | Date | Location | Fee |
| Patient Safety Movement Foundation | 1/12/2014 | Laguna Niguel, Ca. | $315,000.00 |
| National Multi Housing Council | 1/23/2014 | Boca Raton, Fl. | $285,000 |
| Thomas Lloyd Global Asset Management | 1/24/2014 | Frankfurt, Germany | $200,000 |
| The Fragrance Foundation | 1/29/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| 2/4/2014 | Las Vegas, Nv. | $290,000 | |
| Centurion Jewelry By Invitation Only, LLC | 2/4/2014 | Scottsdale, Az. | $225,000 |
| 2/27/2014 | Los Angeles, Ca. | $100,000 | |
| Bright Futures International | 2/27/2014 | Beverly Hills, Ca. | $225,000 |
| Microsoft Corporation | 3/3/2014 | Las Vegas, Nv. | $225,000 |
| Bank of America | 3/6/2014 | London, United Kingdom | $500,000 |
| Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP | 3/7/2014 | The Netherlands | $500,000 |
| Telefonica (via satellite) | 4/1/2014 | Miami, Fl. | $175,000 |
| CSP LLC | 4/1/2014 | Scottsdale, Az. | $225,000 |
| Oracle Americas, Inc. | 4/2/2014 | Rancho Mirage, Ca. | $300,000 |
| Experian | 5/5/2014 | Dallas, Tx. | $225,000 |
| Jefferies LLC | 5/6/2014 | Miami, Fl. | $225,000 |
| Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies | 5/12/2014 | Toronto, Canada | $275,000 |
| Target Markets Program Administrators | 5/13/2014 | Baltimore, Md. | $275,000 |
| UBS Wealth Management Americas | 5/19/2014 | Washington D.C. | $225,000 |
| SCIP Capital Management, LLC | 5/20/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| EAT The Stockholm Food Forum AB | 5/26/2014 | Stockholm, Sweeden | $500,000 |
| Entergy Corporation | 6/5/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| Insurance Accounting and Systems Association | 6/10/2014 | Indianapolis, In. | $225,000 |
| Castlight Health | 6/10/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| Hogan Lovelis US LLP | 6/20/2014 | Toronto, Canada | $225,000 |
| Skechers USA, Inc. | 6/26/2014 | Redondo Beach, Ca. | $350,000 |
| Deutsche Bank AG | 8/27/2014 | Boston, Ma. | $270,000 |
| 9/9/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $150,000 | |
| Association of Energy Engineers | 10/1/2014 | Washington D.C. | $275,000 |
| Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. | 10/9/2014 | Napa Valley, Ca. | $225,000 |
| Veritas Capital Fund Management LLC | 10/14/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| UBS Wealth Management Americas | 10/14/2014 | Boston, Ma. | $225,000 |
| Citadel LLC | 10/15/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| SAP America | 10/23/2014 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| Press Ganey Associates, Inc. | 11/3/2014 | Orlando, Fl. | $225,000 |
| World Affairs Council - Los Angeles | 11/10/2014 | Los Angeles, Ca. | $150,000 |
| Centerview Partners LLC | 11/13/2014 | Carefree, Az. | $225,000 |
| AT&T Services, Inc. | 11/20/2014 | Tuscon, Az. | $225,000 |
| Williams Morris Endeavor | 1/9/2015 | Carlsbad, Ca. | $225,000 |
| MPSF, Inc. | 2/2/2015 | Marin, Ca. | $181,250 |
| MPSF, Inc. | 2/3/2015 | Oakland, Ca. | $181,250 |
| MPSF, Inc. | 2/4/2015 | San Mateo, Ca. | $181,250 |
| MPSF, Inc. | 2/5/2015 | Marin, Ca. | $181,250 |
| UBS Wealth Management Americas | 2/19/2015 | Nashville, Tn. | $225,000 |
| National Association of Manufacturers | 3/2/2015 | Scottsdale, Az. | $325,000 |
| HR.com Limited | 3/31/2015 | Irving, Tx. | $275,000 |
| Texas China Business Council, LLC | 3/31/2015 | Austin, Tx. | $265,000 |
| Wyndham Hotel Group | 4/1/2015 | Las Vegas, Nv. | $225,000 |
| ISN Software Inc. | 4/9/2015 | Grapevine, Tx. | $275,000 |
| Oracle Corporation | 4/16/2015 | Rancho Mirage, Ca. | $360,000 |
| Univision Management Company | 5/12/2015 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| Apollo Management Holdings, LP | 5/12/2015 | New York, N.Y. | $250,000 |
| American Institute of Architects | 5/14/2015 | Atlanta, Ga. | $250,000 |
| TOTAL | $13,460,000.00 |
Basically and unsurprisingly, it's almost all corporations Drug companies, insurance companies, tech companies, and, of course, banks. And as everybody knows, corporations have an obligation to try to make money for their shareholders, not give it away. I wonder what the defense would be if someone were to bring a shareholder's derivative suit against, say, Qualcomm, for wasting $335,000 on a Bill Clinton speech. Would the defense be that the company needed to have him in there to motivate the employees? Or that he had some information that could help the employees become more proficient at their jobs? Not likely -- the answer would almost certainly be that the money was "invested" in the possibility that Bill or Hillary would one day be in a position to help Qualcomm out.
But maybe the speeches are really really good, as one might infer from Deutsche Bank, which apparently can't get enough of the Clintons. Bill got $270,000 for a speech in Boston on August 27, and $150,000 for a speech in New York on September 9. But that left them hungering for Hillary, who scooped up another $280,000 on October 7.
I initially found those four $181,250 MPSF events over Feb. 2-5 by Bill a bit suspicious, but those may well be the most "innocent" speeches of the lot. MPSF is some kind of a speaker series, and year after year, they have reasonably famous people out there speaking. Bill spoke there before in 2002, at $100,000 each for three speeches.
Clearly, his overall fee for this 2015 "work" was $725,000, and he divided it over 4 events. I haven't quite figured it out, but it looks like he really did give four speeches in a row, including one on a Monday in Marin, and another on a Thursday in the same place (subscribers can choose the Monday or Thursday option). Here's their website (https://order.speakerseries.net/); you can click around to get some information about past events (http://speakerseries.net/speakers/previous-series/).
These recent disclosures also reminded me about Chelsea Clinton's $75,000 speeches, which the Daily Show tells me are mostly about diarrhea http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/sx65zl/hillary-s-democratic-opponent---dirty-donating). To her credit, her fees are apparently going to the Clinton Foundation. Of course, she doesn't really need the money -- up until recently, she's been "earning" $600,000 a year at NBC.
Anyway, back to the beginning -- "I gotta pay our bills"?? What kind of bills are they getting? Each of these people "earns" more in one hour than 99 percent of the rest of us earn in an entire year. They only had one kid, and that kid is long through college, and is making a pretty good living herself (see above).
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