Bill Clinton Rakes In $40 Million from Speeches

Apparently, words can make you filthy rich, especially if you're former President Bill Clinton. Slick Willy earned $40 million stringing words together on the lecture circuit over the past 6 years. According to the Washington Post, last year Clinton earned approximately $9 million for an incredible 352 speeches. However, the Post also reports that only 20% of the fees went into the Slickster's pockets. The rest (they say) went to charitable causes, and many speeches were made for free.

According to his wife's Senate ethics reports, Bill Clinton earned $31 million in speaking fees between 2001 and 2005. Among his most lucrative speeches are $150,000 appearances before landlord groups, biotechnology firms, and food distributors. There were also speeches in England, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia that snared more than $1.6 million. In fact, on particularly good day in Canada, Clinton made $475,000 for two speeches. The obvious question is this: What's the big deal?

Here's the big deal - when the Slickster left the White House, he had minimal financial resources and owed $12 million in legal debts stemming from Whitewater and the Monica Lewinsky affair. The Washington Post found a relationship between those firms that pay him six-figure speaking fees and those who support Hillary's campaign for the White House. New York investment giant Goldman-Sachs, for example, shelled out $650,000 for four speeches in recent years. The firm's employees and PAC have given Hillary $270,000 since 2000 - making it second on the list of her most generous political patrons.