There's Money Innit

They came to the White House poor as Church Mice. No home. No real estate. Little savings and only an Arkansas Pension to tide them through their waning years... Now we see that the "politics been berry berry good to me" Clintons are working their way up the prosperity ladder...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former President Clinton made more than $10 million in paid speeches last year, according to new filings that show he and his presidential- candidate wife have at least $10 million in the bank, and may have closer to $50 million.

According to financial disclosure forms made public Thursday, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton hold two accounts, each valued at somewhere between $5 and $25 million. One is an old-fashioned bank account; the other is a blind trust.

The reports indicate that when it comes to family wealth, Clinton is the wealthiest of the members of Congress running for president. Of all the presidential candidates, only Mitt Romney, whose assets are between $190 million and $250 million, may lay claim to being more affluent.

Former President Clinton upped his speechmaking money from the previous year, garnering some $10.2 million in payments, compared with about $7.5 million the year before.

The Clintons had a much more pedestrian income when he ran for president in 1992. If Sen. Clinton's 2008 presidential bid is successful, they will enter the White House a very rich couple.

Six years out of power, Bill Clinton can still raise huge sums with a personal appearance. He made a staggering $450,000 for a single September speech in London, at a Fortune Forum event, as well as $200,000 for an April appearance in the Bahamas to speak to IBM, and another $200,000 for a New York speech to General Motors.

The former president's earnings must be reported as the spouse of a senator. Disclosure rules do not require him to reveal everything. He received an advance from Random House for an unpublished manuscript, but is only required to say that it was greater than $1,000.

He also did not have to say how much he earns as a partner with Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund, a Los Angeles-based investment firm.

UPDATE: On the fifth anniversary of 9/11 last September, Bill Clinton made $100,000 from a speech he made via satellite to a group of investors in Hong Kong...

...falling on the 5th anniversary of 9/11, former US President Bill Clinton opened Asia's biggest annual conference from his home in New York with a message of hope about conflict resolution which helped give investors a big picture view of opportunities and challenges ahead for the markets in which they invest.

Other speakers this week include:

• Former US Vice President Al Gore on climate change. CLSA was fortunate to time the HK premiere of "An Inconvenient Truth" to his visit for the CLSA Investors' Forum. Related sessions include a panel with Tim Flannery author of The Weather Makers and Christine Loh of Civic Exchange on HK air pollution

Isn't Ron Burkle, of the Yucaipa Companies, one of those bidding to buy the Dow-Jones/Wall Street Journal? How would he be a better owner than Murdock and News Corp? I guess the WSJ editorial page would look more like the NYTimes... Where advertising revenue are dropping... and revenue is also down from last year...