Biden earned more than $15M after leaving White House
— Joe Biden WASHINGTON and his wife, Jill, took in more than $15 million since leaving the Obama White House, according to newly released documents, catapulting the Democratic presidential candidate into millionaire status and denting the working-class aura he’s developed over decades.
Long fond of describing himself as “Middle Class Joe” while he took in little more than his govern- ment salary, the former vice president stressed his working-class roots from the very beginning of his bid for his party’s 2020 presidential nomination. But federal tax returns and a financial disclosure released Tuesday show that since Biden left pub- lic office, his income has surged thanks to a lucrative book deal and con- stant publicity tours that brought in more than $4 million.
Biden’s disclosure showed that he also made at least $2.7 million in busi- ness income as part of his publicity tour and writ- ing and took a $425,000 salary from CelticCapri Corp., the business entity the Bidens use.
Since leaving the White House, Biden and his wife signed a multibook deal with Flatiron Books valued at $8 million, according to Publishers Weekly. Biden’s first book, an account of his son Beau’s death from cancer, briefly topped best- seller lists in 2017.
Biden earned $540,000 as a professor and name- sake of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Biden Center for Diplo- macy and Global Engagement. Jill Biden made at least $700,000 in her own speaking engagements.
Joe Biden’s basic speaking fee was reportedly $100,000 a speech.
Biden’s last financial disclosure, filed in 2016 during his final year as vice president, showed that even after eight years at his $230,000-a-year government salary, Biden held significant personal debt. The 2016 disclosure revealed financial assets worth more than $273,000 — including a $150,000 rental property — and more than $750,000 in debt. Those liabilities included a recent mortgage worth more than $500,000 on the rental property and a recent $250,000 home equity loan.
But much of that debt has been paid off, according to the latest disclosure, which showed only two old loans, each worth no more than $15,000 and dating to the 1980s.
Biden’s three newly available tax returns, for 2016, 2017 and 2018, show that his family income jumped from $400,000 in 2016 to $11 million in 2017 as a result of his book deal.