As a public speaker, Boris Johnson earns more in a single appearance than in a full year as Prime Minister in the UK. According to official documents, the ex-prime minister gave the speech to insurance agents in the USA – and before that he honored media mogul Rupert Murdoch on his farm in Montana.
A good two months after leaving Downing Street, Boris Johnson has started a second, quite lucrative career. As can be seen from the register of additional income for members of parliament in Great Britain, the ex-prime minister received a fee of 276,130 British pounds (equivalent to around 316,000 euros) for a speech in the USA in October – for a working time that he totaled with 8 hours and stated 30 minutes.
That’s far more than Johnson earned as Prime Minister and MP combined. British media estimate annual earnings of 164,080 British pounds (equivalent to around 188,500 euros) during his tenure.
In Great Britain MPs have to document their additional earnings in detail and publish them in the register, which is updated every 28 days. It also reveals that shortly before speaking at an association of insurance agents and brokers in Colorado Springs, Johnson traveled to Montana, USA, at the invitation of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. There, Murdoch lives in a $200 million ranch, according to media reports.
Murdoch, whose empire includes influential newspapers in Great Britain such as the “Sun” and the “Times”, paid the equivalent of around 13,260 euros personally for Johnson’s visit. He is listed as a donor for, among other things, Johnson’s travel transportation within the United States and his accommodation.
Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May also regularly generates high additional income with speeches. But compared to Johnson, her fees seem modest. In the most recent register entry, she stated that she received 97,000 pounds (the equivalent of around 111,000 euros) for an appearance in the USA.
That politicians earn a lot of money after leaving office is nothing new. Ex-US President Bill Clinton is said to have collected half a million dollars for individual speeches around ten years ago.
