The bidding war over a book deal with Barack and Michelle Obama has skyrocketed to more than $60 million — more than any presidential memoir in history.
Penguin Random House has so far made the highest bid for global rights to the deal in which the former president and first lady are writing separate books but selling them together, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
By contrast, publishers only plunked down $15 million for Bill Clinton’s 2004 autobiography “My Life” and $10 million for George W. Bush’s memoir “Decision Points,” according to past reports.
At least four publishing firms — including HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster — are vying for the rights, sources told the paper.
Penguin Random House has already published three other books by Barack Obama, including “Dreams from My Father,” which earned $6.8 million in royalties after it was released in 1995, The Hill reported.
Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope” raked in $8.8 million as a bestseller in 2006, according to Forbes.
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