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?

#101

Post by notahacker » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 3:45 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #53

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…

Beyoncé isn't just Beyoncé. Even when doing a private gig for a billionaire "she" is a huge event employing hundreds of people to install and operate a massive collection of sound, light and staging equipment. She, the person, may take a large fee but "she" the show is something very different than a politician giving a speech at a podium. Hiring a politician to give a speech at your corporate retreat is like hiring…

Billionaires do pay well north of $250k to have actors just show up at their party and do a speech though. And Clinton or Trump are probably better, more audience-relevant speakers for certain audiences.

It's not like organizations with $225k to book a Hillary Clinton speaking engagement struggle for access to the government or like they don't have the willingness and ability to funnel money to her or her campaign in ways which don't involve paying market rate for a speaking engagement.

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

#102

Post by tootie » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 3:45 PM UTC

parasubvert wrote: post #88

tomohawk wrote: post #74

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 pa…

Great to see partisan political commentary on HN. There is no proof of quid pro quo in that Russia uranium deal: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jun/... Also, Clinton sold a lot more than 3000 copies that first week; more like 85000 (still not as good as her prior best sellers): http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/18/what-do-hil...

She's also going to be selling copies for the next 10 years.

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

#103

Post by hackinthebochs » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 3:47 PM UTC

mangeletti wrote: post #66

I watched a documentary called Clinton Cash[1] that provided some correlations to explore, pertaining the Clintons' speaking fees. 1. https://youtu.be/7LYRUOd_QoM

Oh boy correlations, the lifeblood of the conspiracy theoriest

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

#104

Post by hackinthebochs » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 3:51 PM UTC

leereeves wrote: post #17

chrisseaton wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That seems reasonable? Yes it does to me. If they invite many former secretaries of state it seems reasonable to invite this one. Who cares what she's currently working on if that's not why she was invited? The article even says she hardly mentioned her candidacy. If you're desperate to get worked up about this I can see where you would find the problem, but I think a charitable interpretation is a former secretary…

> a charitable interpretation Indeed. If you trust her, you may not see a problem, but if you don't trust her, it's easy to argue this is disguised bribery. There's a huge difference between a former secretary of state with no prospects of power in the future and someone everyone knew would run for President in a few years.

Sure its easy to argue if you're not one to need evidence to form opinions, but mere possibilities.

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

#105

Post by dorfsmay » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:15 PM UTC

dorfsmay wrote: post #67

feklar wrote: post #5

This is how RMS has made a living for 2 decades. One advantage to attending these is being able to briefly talk to the speaker afterwards if they stick around, like asking RMS about his papers in the 1970s about propagation, dependencies and backtracking for building large-scale symbolic systems.

Unless it has changed recently, RMS asks for all his fees to be paid, and does not ask for a fee but makes it clear that one is appreciated and that if no speaking fee is paid, he's essentially given the speech for free. My experience is that organisations and people inviting him to speak do pay him, but in the thousands of dollars, similarly to what you'd pay a high end consultant to spend a day or two to travel and…

I meant "asks for all his expenses to be paid", not fees.

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

#106

Post by AJ007 » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:20 PM UTC

M_Grey wrote: post #98

tomohawk wrote: post #74

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 pa…

The problem is that people have long since figured out that a deal over drinks and a handshake is tough to prosecute, and easy to deny.

As long as no one is wearing a wire.

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

#107

Post by sandworm101 » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:26 PM UTC

notahacker wrote: post #101

sandworm101 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beyoncé isn't just Beyoncé. Even when doing a private gig for a billionaire "she" is a huge event employing hundreds of people to install and operate a massive collection of sound, light and staging equipment. She, the person, may take a large fee but "she" the show is something very different than a politician giving a speech at a podium. Hiring a politician to give a speech at your corporate retreat is like hiring…

Billionaires do pay well north of $250k to have actors just show up at their party and do a speech though. And Clinton or Trump are probably better, more audience-relevant speakers for certain audiences. It's not like organizations with $225k to book a Hillary Clinton speaking engagement struggle for access to the government or like they don't have the willingness and ability to funnel money to her or her campaign in…

And when they do hire celebs to show up as eye candy they do so as demonstration of their influence and wealth. We on the outside know that Beyonce isn't at the birthday party for her wit. So when a Clinton, a Bush or any other political actor is paid to attend some corporate get-together they are on display as much as beyonce would be at some kid's birthday party. They don't give away any secrets or profound insights at these events. Those who brought the speaker are simply demonstrating their connections and spending power.

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

#108

Post by tootie » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:34 PM UTC

ethanbond wrote: post #68

tiler wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ehh. Hilary Clinton is far more powerful than the people that invite her to give speeches. More than likely this is a way for a business interest to pay tribute in the hopes that someday she might remember their fealty.

Ummm, yes. A lot of people think that's a problem. That's called corruption. Do you not?

If that's corruption you'd have to disqualify every candidate who's ever had a job.

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

#109

Post by jomamaxx » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:34 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #96

jomamaxx wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

I suggest talking to a women in business or politics.

I have three sisters, two mothers, 3 aunts, a girlfriend (and ex girlfriends), and 6 female cousins - and a 20 year career working in which 50% of my colleagues were females, and several female bosses. Almost all of whom are 'professional women in business'.

You're suggesting that someone commenting on HN hasn't had your amazing experience of 'having spoken to a woman with a job?'?

Again - total and complete rubbish.

Not only are you wrong - you have it upside down: women are far more likely to be 'bullied' by other women in the office, not men. My mother was a VP of customer service, and more than 50% of the time she dealt with extremely petty politics, name calling, shaming, playground antics and other such rubbish among here 90%+ female staff.

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

#110

Post by AJ007 » Sat, Sep 17, 2016, 4:35 PM UTC

ufmace wrote: post #99

I like to look at these things from the other side. Say you're a high-level politician and/or civil servant and want to find a way for somebody to pay you off for granting them political favors. What would you do? Paid speeches sound great. Hire a speechwriter for a few thousand bucks, then you just go and give it to them and collect your fee. That fee can be whatever you want, because who can say what a speech is re…

Some people go to great lengths to try to avoid something that would even appear to be a conflict of interest. Others couldn't even be bothered to cross the street if it inconvenienced them.

Here are some things that could be investigated, probably the same way one would use data science for fraud detection:

- Compile a broad database of speakers, fees they received, when it happened

- Find a way to rate speakers based on their public visibility. In other words, who attracts an audience more than someone else. Conceivably, the value of a "Speaker" is to get people to show up to your event and pay to be there.

- Create a network database of relationships of speakers and family members.

- Start looking for anomalies related to outsized speaking fees and changes when a family member is or is not holding a public office.

- From that, investigators would need to start looking in to the details of who may have done what for who

Despite what is read in the press, Western countries are moving hard against public corruption and perceived corruption and have since the post-9/11 anti-money laundering changes.