# Who makes the most in Speaker's Fees?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-makes-the-most-in-speakers-fees/195215>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 14, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-makes-the-most-in-speakers-fees/195215 "2003-08-14T19:53:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-makes-the-most-in-speakers-fees/195215/1 "2003-08-14T19:53:57Z")

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My guess would be Bill Clinton. I figure he is at the top of the Spectrum. But does anyone know what it takes to get an A-List speaker for an event?

A friend recently attended a conference with Bob Dole as the key note. We were wondering what he charged.

I remember a few years back that Pat Riley was amongst the highest paid motivational speakers, so I was wondering if anyone knew if a list of the highest paid (or basically a sampling of what people charge) for this type of thing.

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**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-makes-the-most-in-speakers-fees/195215/2 "2003-08-14T21:23:44Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by watsonwil \*  
> \*\*  
> I remember a few years back that Pat Riley was amongst the highest paid motivational speakers, so I was wondering if anyone knew if a list of the highest paid (or basically a sampling of what people charge) for this type of thing. \*\*

A quick search made me determine that most, if not all fees, are negotiable.

Here’s a site for you but you could probably google it to find what you’re looking for specifically. I charge 100 an hour if you’re interested. 🆒

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**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-makes-the-most-in-speakers-fees/195215/3 "2003-08-14T22:01:11Z")

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[http://www.speakers.ca/fees.html](http://www.speakers.ca/fees.html)

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-makes-the-most-in-speakers-fees/195215/4 "2003-08-14T22:01:43Z")

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It’s likely ex-President Clinton is the highest paid per speech esp. for speeches given in other countries, but I’m sure he does some freebies for causes he bleieves in as well. IIRC I think he got 150-250K for some of the speeches he gave. I think Colin Powell is/was # 2 @ 50K to 100K per speech.

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**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-makes-the-most-in-speakers-fees/195215/5 "2003-08-14T22:29:31Z")

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Thanks Frixxx. I saw that sight, but that was just the ones from that management group I believe.

Plus, “Over Ten Thousand” is so vague! I want the dirt! 🙂