Chelsea Clinton Commands $75K Per Speech

The Clintons' new family business is a money-maker on all fronts now. The New York Times reports that Chelsea Clinton gets paid up to $75,000 for her public speeches. And while that's nowhere near what mom and dad pull in—between $200,000 and $700,000—the story by Amy Chozick notes that it's more than other well-known figures such as Jeb Bush and Madeleine Albright, who are in the $50,000 range. A Clinton spokesperson says that all of Chelsea's money goes to the family's philanthropic Clinton Foundation and that the majority of her speeches are unpaid.

The younger Clinton focuses not on politics in her speeches but on issues pertinent to the foundation, such as eliminating waterborne diseases worldwide. She also delivers lines such as, "Life’s not about what happens to you, it’s about what you do with what happens to you." All of which has Isaac Chotiner at the New Republic wondering, "Why on Earth are people paying so much money to hear this stuff?" A former or future president, fine, "but Chelsea?" (Click to read about how NBC paid Chelsea, who recently announced she is pregnant, a salary of $600,000 a year.)