The Financial Times has reported that publisher Penguin Random House has struck the most expensive copyright agreement in the world by paying former US president Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle more than USD 60 million for them to write one book each. Barack Obama’s new book will be his fourth, while Michelle Obama’s book will be her second.
Obama’s predecessor in the White House, George W Bush, made USD 10 million from his autobiography, while former US president Bill Clinton was paid USD 15 million.
Obama’s previous books include two by Crown Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House, which sold more than 3 million copies in the USA alone. In recognition of his audiobooks of the two titles, the former president won two ‘Grammy’ awards from the Recording Academy for his reading of the books in 2005 and 2007.