Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#71

Post by noobiemcfoob » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:33 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #46

netcan wrote: post #36

" that’s like asking why anyone would pay Beyoncé or the Beatles a million dollars just to play a few songs " This almost feels like playing dumb. The fact that a legitimate public speaking economy exists and has a dynamic which is not based on payola does not mean that a dirtier side does not. Like other pieces of the money-in-politics puzzle there are legitimate, non-corrupt reasons to hand powerful people 6 figure…

Besides, Beyonce or the Beatles are/were either paid to perform shows (in which case, people except a large return from ticket prices), or are asked by some ultra-rich guy to perform at his party/whatever (in which case it's an extravagant spending).

How's that different than conference tickets to see a speaker or a corporation hiring a big name to speak at their event?

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#72

Post by crdb » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:33 PM UTC

netcan wrote: post #36

" that’s like asking why anyone would pay Beyoncé or the Beatles a million dollars just to play a few songs " This almost feels like playing dumb. The fact that a legitimate public speaking economy exists and has a dynamic which is not based on payola does not mean that a dirtier side does not. Like other pieces of the money-in-politics puzzle there are legitimate, non-corrupt reasons to hand powerful people 6 figure…

If you want an example of straight bribery, which is sufficiently far in the past to be non-partisan, try Rick Santorum with Accuweather.

Accuweather employees (mostly the head and his brother) donated $10,500 to his PAC and he subsequently introduced an Act trying to wall off the National Weather Service's data from the public domain.

What surprised me was how low the price tag was. These days, that barely covers a new Submariner.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santorum#National_Weather...

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#73

Post by Spooky23 » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:36 PM UTC

It attracts people to your event.

If you're paying $1,000/plate for some fundraiser, there's an expectation for something more than rubber chicken and a photo with representative so and so.

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#74

Post by tomohawk » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:36 PM UTC

While Hillary was Secretary of State, Bill's speaking fees from foreign interests dramatically skyrocketed.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bill-clinton-cashed-hillary-s...

One example of these appears to be related to the uranium deal with Russia, where he bagged $500K. Hillary changed direction and signed off on the deal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-...

This is not the only form of payola for corrupt elites. Hillary's new book, for which she received a record $14M advance, sold less that 3000 copyies its first week. We've seen this before.

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#75

Post by enraged_camel » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:41 PM UTC

SagelyGuru wrote: post #43

In the case of top politicians, it does look very much like a convenient legal way to pay them bribes and/or rewards for "good work". This article does not really dispel that impression but rather strengthens it. It protests too much. Besides, there is a big difference between $225K for them and the $50K for the merely famous. Whereas $50K might well be the market rate for really inspirational and famous speakers, th…

>>In the case of top politicians, it does look very much like a convenient legal way to pay them bribes and/or rewards for "good work".

Yeah, as far as I'm concerned it's the equivalent of paying someone $200,000 for a bag of rocks. Sure, it's a legal transaction, but everyone knows the real purpose behind it: as a way to trade favors.

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#76

Post by JoeAltmaier » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:49 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #69

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow that is world-class naiveté. Female politicians of every stripe are bullied daily. This is business as usual for half of our population. And its compounded by guys constantly replying "Hey it isn't happening to me; I don't see it so it must not exist".

I don't see politicians as male or female and could not care less what sex they are. Are they fit for office is the real question. Female politicians are just hit with some special charges related to their sex. But male and female politicians are hit with all kinds of shit all the time. Compared to the avalanche of accusations that go to both, having some special accusations because you're a woman politician is not m…

Convenient to ignore the abuse heaped on female politicians (hell any professional) daily. Again, denial that there's a whole special category of female-bashing is not an argument. I recommend reading up on it.

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#77

Post by JoeAltmaier » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:51 PM UTC

leereeves wrote: post #60

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow that is world-class naiveté. Female politicians of every stripe are bullied daily. This is business as usual for half of our population. And its compounded by guys constantly replying "Hey it isn't happening to me; I don't see it so it must not exist".

Clinton is being treated far more kindly than Trump.

What universe is that happening in? There have been around 50 smoke-screen fake 'scandals' invented around Hillary in particular. None have come to anything. Millions mis-spent in tax money on what amounts to political slander.

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#78

Post by jomamaxx » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 12:57 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #55

coldtea wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> OK, so why are such articles only written for hillary? As opposed to who? Trump? Aren't enough negative articles also written for Trump? Besides he is so rich that he doesn't needed "meagre" 250K speeches to influence him -- he probably has voting favors for his business partners and his own business interests pre-planned already. > Why are you so adamantly opposed to Hillary's practices when it is so incredibly co…

Wow that is world-class naiveté. Female politicians of every stripe are bullied daily. This is business as usual for half of our population. And its compounded by guys constantly replying "Hey it isn't happening to me; I don't see it so it must not exist".

"Wow that is world-class naiveté. Female politicians of every stripe are bullied daily."

Total B.S.

Politicians, and businesspeople are rarely 'bullied'.

'Bullied every day'?

Enough this this rubbish.

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#79

Post by RobertoG » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 1:02 PM UTC

tikhonj wrote: post #8

camillomiller wrote: post #6

Has anybody here ever had her/his mind changed by a great overpaid speaker? I've seen a lot of speeches in my professional life, and the ones that stuck the most were usually from non-famous low-paid speakers. The more famous and accomplished (and American, actually) the speaker is, the more the speech would steer toward a self-eulogy of the person's work achievements. And it's boring. It's a bit sad that most of the…

I don't know about changing my mind per se , but I definitely got a new perspective on financial regulation after attending a talk by Barney Frank (famous for the Dodd-Frank bill). I don't remember the exact details now, but hearing about how he designed the regulations was very interesting, even if it was a pretty high-level description. It colored my understanding of the regulation in a way that just reading a desc…

Who paid the bill for that talk?

I bet it wasn't Goldman & Sachs.

Re: Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?

#80

Post by jomamaxx » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 1:08 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #76

coldtea wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see politicians as male or female and could not care less what sex they are. Are they fit for office is the real question. Female politicians are just hit with some special charges related to their sex. But male and female politicians are hit with all kinds of shit all the time. Compared to the avalanche of accusations that go to both, having some special accusations because you're a woman politician is not m…

Convenient to ignore the abuse heaped on female politicians (hell any professional) daily. Again, denial that there's a whole special category of female-bashing is not an argument. I recommend reading up on it.

"Convenient to ignore the abuse heaped on female politicians (hell any professional) daily. "

Get of of HN and back to Jezebel.

The position that females face 'bullying' every day in business and politics is beyond false. It's that kind of rubbish narrative that drives otherwise normal people to vote for a crazy person like Trump.