Obamas Bag Blockbuster Memoirs Deal, Reportedly, For A Whopping $60 Million

Former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama have signed book deals with Penguin Random House. Other top publishing house like HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster were also in the race to sign the Obamas but Penguin finally succeeded in clinching the memoir deal.

According to the Guardian, the financial terms were not disclosed for the books, for which several publishers had competed, although it was reported that bidding reached more than $60 million, a part of which will go to charity including the Obama foundation. Though their books will come out separately, the deal has been signed jointly.

Earlier, fellow Democrat and former president Bill Clinton earned $15 million for rights to his 2004 memoir “My Life” which was published by Knopf Publishing Group, while Obama’s immediate predecessor Republican George W. Bush reaped some $10 million from his book “Decision Points”.

The former president and first lady have previously published through Crown, a Penguin Random House imprint. Barack Obama’s three books have sold more than four million copies and fetched him around $10 million, The New York Times .

Apart from the book deals, the Obamas are expected to make as much as $242.5 million in their time after leaving the White House, according to a report by American University.

With inputs from ANI.