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Barack Obama criticised for $500,000 Wall Street speech

Barack Obama left some advice for Donald Trump as he left the White House.

Barack Obama left some advice for Donald Trump as he left the White House. Photo: Getty

Former US president Barack Obama has been criticised for reportedly agreeing to a $US400,000 ($A530,000) fee for a speech to a Wall Street bank.

The 44th president allegedly accepted an offer to speak at a September healthcare conference hosted by stock-broking firm Cantor Fitzgerald, according to US media.

It comes after Mr Obama previously referred to Wall Street bankers as “fat cats” and said the financial crisis was “caused in part by completely irresponsible actions on Wall Street”.

In 2009, he told CBS: “I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street.”

Less than 100 days after he left the White House, Mr Obama has signed the lucrative deal with Cantor Fitzgerald, and accepted an offer for two books with Penguin Random House, to be written separately by him and wife Michelle.

They are expected to receive $65 million for the deal.

“Is there an irony here because he spoke incessantly about the income gap and is now earning from those same people he criticised? Yes it is,” Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf told the New York Post.

“Should we expect it? Yes, we should because all former presidents do this. He went on the attack against Wall Street and now he’s being fed by those same people he called ‘fat cats’. It’s more hypocritical than ironic.”

Talk isn’t cheap

Obama speech

Hillary and Bill Clinton have earned over $200 million from public speaking. Photo: Getty

However, Mr Obama isn’t the only former politician cashing in as keynote speakers, as the world’s biggest political names regularly draw in six-figure fees for public appearances.

Ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received the same criticism after she was paid $225,000 for delivering three speeches to Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs in 2015.

Her husband and former US president Bill Clinton has made a wealthy career out of speaker gigs since leaving office, attracting the market’s top price of roughly $300,000 per speech.

According to CNN analysis, the pair made $US153 million ($A200 million) in speaking fees from 729 speeches made from February 2001 until May 2015.

The couple received an average payday of $210,795 for each address, while they also reportedly earned at least $7.7 million for at least 39 speeches to big banks.

Obama speech

Both Tony Abbott and John Howard earn at least $40,000 per speech. Photo: AAP

Meanwhile, former Australian prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott are also making lucrative arrangements since joining the speakers circuit.

According to speaking agency Washington Speakers Bureau’s website, the pair command more than $40,000 per engagement.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair is possibly the world’s best-paid speaker on a lecture-by-lecture basis.

In 2011, Mr Blair walked away with an estimated $3.3 million fee for five speaking events in Australia and New Zealand, Crikey reported at the time.

In 2009, he made almost $616,000 for two half-hour speeches given in the Philippines, raking in over $10,000 a minute.

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