If it’s good enough for Hillary, it’s good enough for Barack.
Both Clinton and Obama berated banks and the “fat cats” who run them throughout their political careers (ripping them as heartless corporations while filling their pockets with their cash). Hillary made millions giving speeches to the huge financial institutions, swatting away charges of hypocrisy (which apparently didn’t really sell with Mr. and Mrs. America).
Now, it’s Obama’s turn to make bank. Last month, he spoke to clients of Northern Trust Corp. for about $400,000, a person familiar with his appearance told Bloomberg News.
But that’s not a one-off. “Last week, he reminisced about the White House for Carlyle Group LP, one of the worldâs biggest private equity firms, according to two people who were there. Next week, heâll give a keynote speech at investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald LPâs health-care conference.” You can bet that’ll bring a hefty chunk of change.
Obama will also pop by the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald next week during a three-day conference for current and prospective clients. “Obama will be paid about $400,000, according to a person familiar with the arrangement,” Bloomberg wrote.
And not every paid appearance by Obama is even known.
Obamaâs appearance at the Carlyle conference in Washington was previously unreported. The private equity giant has enjoyed some of the best political connections in the world, with executives and advisers who have included former presidents, prime ministers and cabinet secretaries. Obama discussed his life and the decisions he made in the White House, the people who heard him said. A spokesman for the firm wouldnât comment.
Obama has woven a complicated web of financial advisors with his foundation.
His foundation is raising money for a library in Chicago, and he and his wife signed a book deal with Penguin Random House after an auction that went above $60 million, according to the Financial Times. He spoke about food in Milan, democracy in Jakarta and himself at an A&E Television Networks event in New York. He vacationed in California and Hawaii and on Richard Bransonâs Necker Island with its billionaire owner.
Obama has picked private equity, hedge fund, venture capital and banking veterans to oversee his foundation, and an alumnus of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to advise him on investments.
Northern Trust is a bank that specializes in wealth management for rich families and services for big funds. The event had gone unreported, but a program accessible on the firmâs website lists Obama alongside executives from Microsoft Corp., IBM and Michael Bloomberg, majority owner of Bloomberg LP.
Northern Trust, based in Chicago, gave Obama a discount on a $1.32 million loan for a mansion in that city in 2005, after he was elected to the Senate, the Washington Post reported. The rate was changed to account for an offer from another lender, a spokesman for Obama said three years later. Doug Holt, a spokesman for Northern Trust, wouldnât comment for this story.
Source: The Daily Wire
