6 ms·

This site's categories top out at >$200k, but that category includes Aaron Sorkin, Alec Baldwin, 2 Chainz, Brett Farve, Criss Angel, Dara Khosrowshani, Gordon R

This site's categories top out at >$200k, but that category includes Aaron Sorkin, Alec Baldwin, 2 Chainz, Brett Farve, Criss Angel, Dara Khosrowshani, Gordon Ramsey, and James Dyson (I got bored of scrolling but there were a lot more too). https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/searchfee.php?fee=6 https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/searchfee.php?fee=6

michael_j_ward 6y ago
So all of these fall into the category of quasi-advertising / brand building. I'm not inviting Alec Baldwin for his knowledge / advice. Are you saying Yellen is not being paid for her knowledge / advice?
- CubsFan1060 6y ago
  Charles Koch? I am struggling to think that there are any examples that you won't dismiss, no matter how applicable. Dan Schulman, Dara Khosrowshahi, Dr. Helmut Panke. And now I'm bored of scrolling through.
  - michael_j_ward 6y ago
    Charles Koch falls in the bin of "earns more on their wealth during that time." There is another bin that is "paid for brand-building advertisement." - i.e. celebrities. The proposition is that ex-government officials are just getting paid market rate for her knowledge and insight. If that's the case, it should be trivially easy to find non government officials people getting paid $300k a speech for their knowledge. You've identified listings - which is better than I thought there would be ! - but not sales. Yellen earned $7.2m in two years. If all three of those combined earned half as much in speaking fees over that same time, I'd be definitely convinced that it's ho-hum
  - michael_j_ward 6y ago
    Adding here because I can't reply to my own link If you're a motivated research reading this interested in answering this empirically, I'd suggest trying to find organizations that both pay this level of fees and have to disclose it to the public when they do (I'm hoping this might be the case for public companies under SEC regs, but that's just a hope)
- threatofrain 6y ago
  > The only reason outrage seems justified is that the demographics of those that can charge $300k a speech appears overwhelmingly dominated by government officials. People spent the energy to provide sources. Are you spending the same time? What sources provides you the confidence to say that some demographics are "overwhelmingly dominated"...?
  - michael_j_ward 6y ago
    Strong possibility that it suffers from visibility bias. And that's exactly the bias I'm trying to eliminate with my question.
- mattkrause 6y ago
  You asked for "non politician, non regulator, non government officials", so that's what I dug up. It doesn't seem like a crazy idea for a corporate retreat-style event. Have a day full of internal presentations reviewing the last year, describing future initiatives, etc. After dinner, Yellen talks, telling some stories about her time on the Fed, working with Clinton, and maybe caps it off with a section about "Future Challenges." People like hearing/meeting celebrities, so it caps the day off nicely while being reasonably educational too.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
runako 6y ago
Those are all entertainers with broad appeal. What if you had an audience of millionaires with a broad age range, all with an interest in finance? And you wanted to entertain them? 2 Chainz might not be the best choice. For that audience, a top economist could be a good choice for the same money.
- michael_j_ward 6y ago
  Sounds plausible! Links to that actually happening is exactly the kind of evidence I'm asking for.
  - mattkrause 6y ago
    Isn't that exactly what we're discussing?
  - runako 6y ago
    Yes, the Bloomberg article we are discussing is an example of the type of event I described.
  - michael_j_ward 6y ago
    Yes it is what we're discussing- so it's odd I have to make the implicit explicit. Links to that actually happening *for non government officials* is exactly the kind of evidence I'm asking for.
    - runako 6y ago
      Are you asking for links to places where other celebrities get paid six figures for an appearance? There are other posts in this thread with links to venues where you can find any number of celebrities with posted prices in the six figures. Edit: here's a link, since it only takes 10 seconds to find: https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/discover-your-speaker.php https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/discover-your-speaker.ph... Notable: Ava DuVernay (film director) starts at $200k. Tim Ferriss says $100k-$200k. Viola Davis: $200k and up. I'm certain that none of these people are obligated to these prices; if Citadel is buying, anyone would be silly to not raise the price. Conversely, all are certainly able to make speeches at discounted rates or gratis to schools, nonprofits, etc. Also notable (because it refutes your priors) is a lack of public officials, or those who have held public office. Edit (again): Here are private economists who make bank for speeches: https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/searchresults/economist#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=economist&gsc.sort= https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/searchresults/economist#... Sort by price and you'll see that people do hire economists to speak for six figures, even if they have no nexus to government. Yellen is higher-profile than most of these, and again anyone would be foolhardy to not double their rate for Citadel.

michael_j_ward 6y ago

So all of these fall into the category of quasi-advertising / brand building. I'm not inviting Alec Baldwin for his knowledge / advice. Are you saying Yellen is not being paid for her knowledge / advice?

CubsFan1060 6y ago
Charles Koch? I am struggling to think that there are any examples that you won't dismiss, no matter how applicable. Dan Schulman, Dara Khosrowshahi, Dr. Helmut Panke. And now I'm bored of scrolling through.
- michael_j_ward 6y ago
  Charles Koch falls in the bin of "earns more on their wealth during that time." There is another bin that is "paid for brand-building advertisement." - i.e. celebrities. The proposition is that ex-government officials are just getting paid market rate for her knowledge and insight. If that's the case, it should be trivially easy to find non government officials people getting paid $300k a speech for their knowledge. You've identified listings - which is better than I thought there would be ! - but not sales. Yellen earned $7.2m in two years. If all three of those combined earned half as much in speaking fees over that same time, I'd be definitely convinced that it's ho-hum
- michael_j_ward 6y ago
  Adding here because I can't reply to my own link If you're a motivated research reading this interested in answering this empirically, I'd suggest trying to find organizations that both pay this level of fees and have to disclose it to the public when they do (I'm hoping this might be the case for public companies under SEC regs, but that's just a hope)
threatofrain 6y ago
> The only reason outrage seems justified is that the demographics of those that can charge $300k a speech appears overwhelmingly dominated by government officials. People spent the energy to provide sources. Are you spending the same time? What sources provides you the confidence to say that some demographics are "overwhelmingly dominated"...?
- michael_j_ward 6y ago
  Strong possibility that it suffers from visibility bias. And that's exactly the bias I'm trying to eliminate with my question.
mattkrause 6y ago
You asked for "non politician, non regulator, non government officials", so that's what I dug up. It doesn't seem like a crazy idea for a corporate retreat-style event. Have a day full of internal presentations reviewing the last year, describing future initiatives, etc. After dinner, Yellen talks, telling some stories about her time on the Fed, working with Clinton, and maybe caps it off with a section about "Future Challenges." People like hearing/meeting celebrities, so it caps the day off nicely while being reasonably educational too.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

runako 6y ago

Those are all entertainers with broad appeal. What if you had an audience of millionaires with a broad age range, all with an interest in finance? And you wanted to entertain them? 2 Chainz might not be the best choice. For that audience, a top economist could be a good choice for the same money.

michael_j_ward 6y ago
Sounds plausible! Links to that actually happening is exactly the kind of evidence I'm asking for.
- mattkrause 6y ago
  Isn't that exactly what we're discussing?
- runako 6y ago
  Yes, the Bloomberg article we are discussing is an example of the type of event I described.
- michael_j_ward 6y ago
  Yes it is what we're discussing- so it's odd I have to make the implicit explicit. Links to that actually happening *for non government officials* is exactly the kind of evidence I'm asking for.
  - runako 6y ago
    Are you asking for links to places where other celebrities get paid six figures for an appearance? There are other posts in this thread with links to venues where you can find any number of celebrities with posted prices in the six figures. Edit: here's a link, since it only takes 10 seconds to find: https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/discover-your-speaker.php https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/discover-your-speaker.ph... Notable: Ava DuVernay (film director) starts at $200k. Tim Ferriss says $100k-$200k. Viola Davis: $200k and up. I'm certain that none of these people are obligated to these prices; if Citadel is buying, anyone would be silly to not raise the price. Conversely, all are certainly able to make speeches at discounted rates or gratis to schools, nonprofits, etc. Also notable (because it refutes your priors) is a lack of public officials, or those who have held public office. Edit (again): Here are private economists who make bank for speeches: https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/searchresults/economist#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=economist&gsc.sort= https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/searchresults/economist#... Sort by price and you'll see that people do hire economists to speak for six figures, even if they have no nexus to government. Yellen is higher-profile than most of these, and again anyone would be foolhardy to not double their rate for Citadel.