Fergie cashing in with another book
Earnings close in on £10m since retirement
SIR Alex Ferguson is set to take his earnings closer to £10million since stepping down as Manchester United manager after signing up for a new book.
Ferguson, whose best-selling autobiography was only released by Hodder & Stoughton in October 2013, has agreed a deal with the publishers for a book titled Leading, which promises to ‘analyse the pivotal leadership decisions of an astonishing career’.
The book is being co-written with investor and author Sir Michael Moritz, and will hit the shelves in the autumn.
Ferguson said: ‘Since stepping into retirement I have had the opportunity to reflect on my time as a football manager, and to consider the reasons behind my success through personal recollections, conversations with Mike Moritz and my role at Harvard Business School.
‘It has been a new experience for me to be looking into the past rather than planning for the future, but one I have found enjoyable and rewarding.’
Ferguson, who earned £7.6m a year towards the end of his reign at Old Trafford, has continued to profit from his huge success in football — he won 13 Premier League titles — since retiring from management in May 2013. The 73-year- old was paid an advance of £2m for his second autobiography published later that year. It became the biggest-selling book of 2013, with sales earning him at least an additional £1m.
Ferguson continues to bank more than £2m a year for 20 appearances as a club ambassador for United, a role that was agreed when he stepped down as manager.
In January, the club’s accounts confirmed that he was paid £2.165m — the equivalent of £ 100,000 a day — between October 2013 and July 2014. The Scot also has a long- term contract to lecture at Harvard on a new course — the business of entertainment, media and sports.
Industry insiders estimate that he is able to command a fee of up to £100,000 a day for public speaking engagements, with his son Jason understood to be negotiating all business dealings on his behalf.