Obama to net USD 400 thousand for Wall Street speech
Former President Barack Obama has agreed to speak at a Wall Street conference for $400,000, according to a new report. Obama will appear at Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s healthcare conference in September, Fox Business Network first reported.
Fox Business said it confirmed Obama’s appearance with senior people at Cantor, a financial services firm. Obama will serve as the keynote speaker for one day at the company’s event, sources there told Fox Business.
The network’s sources said Obama has signed a contract for the speech with the mid-size investment bank in New York. Cantor is waiting to coordinate with Obama before making a formal announcement, it continued. Obama can reportedly back out of the arrangement if scheduling conflicts or other concerns arise, it added.
The former president’s reported speaking fee is nearly twice the price commanded by Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. Obama reappeared on the public stage Monday, making his first public remarks since leaving the White House at the future site of his presidential library.
The former president did not mention President Trump or political commentary during his appearance at the University of Chicago.
“There’s a reason why I am always optimistic, even when things look like they are sometimes not going the way I want,” he said at a roundtable about youth participation in civic life. “And that’s because of young people like this.”
Obama’s remarks came just days before his successor reaches his 100th day in office.
