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Tony Blair: $20 Million Man
October 31, 2008 8:10 AM
BY PHILIP VICTOR, ABC News London
For some the credit crunch isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair is said to have earned close to $20 million since leaving office in June 2007.
Much of Blair’s income has come as a result of his speaking engagements, which can run up to $250,000 for a 90-minute speech. The former prime minister’s inter-faith charity had also embarked on an agreement with Yale on Blair's teaching a seminar about religion in the interconnected world titled “Faith and Globalization,” for which the university reportedly paid over $200,000.
The currently salary for a U.K. prime minister is £189,994 ($310,539). Blair, however, has earned that amount many times over with his speaking tours and company dealings. The U.K. Times reports Blair has earned £4.6 million ($7,520,143) from his memoirs, £2 million ($3,268,965) from JPMorgan Chase, £500,000 ($817,048) from Zurich Financial Services, and £5.8 million ($9,480,095) from speaking engagements. Blair also receives a taxpayer sum of £84,000 ($137,297) in addition to his annual pension of £63,468 ($103,745).
Blair has served the Swiss firm Zurich, assisting them with developments and trends in the international arena as well advising on matters of climate change. At JPMorgan Chase, Blair has advised the bank on global political and strategic issues.
The Times indicates that Blair's employers are quite happy about with his services. JPMorgan says Blair “has played an extremely valuable role here.” “He provides us with pretty useful insights,” Zurich Financial said.
Some believe that Blair’s extracurricular activities have sidetracked him from carrying out his duties as the Quartet’s Middle East envoy. Blair’s mission as envoy was to work toward a sustainable peace agreement and solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on behalf of the U.N., U.S., Russia and the E.U.
A senior U.N. official quoted in the Times says of Blair: “There’s a view in the UN that he’s not making any progress and that from all the status he brings to the position, he doesn’t seem to be achieving anything.”
But Blair’s office told the Times that the former PM’s role as Middle East envoy “takes up the largest portion of his time,” adding “No official of the UN or any other Quartet member has ever raised any such concerns with us.”
Contributing an op-ed to the Times, Alice Thomson writes, “A prime minister shouldn’t take advantage of their position in office…but once a prime minister has left office and given up his seat, he should be free to do whatever he wants as long as his snout isn’t in the people’s trough.”
Thomson downplays the earnings and writes that despite Blair’s multimillions, “he still spends one week a month saving the world, unpaid as the Quartet’s Middle East representative.”
Read more blogs from Philip Victor
Read more blogs from the ABC News Staff
October 31, 2008 in Philip Victor | Permalink | User Comments (3)
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Maybe tony blair can donate this 20 million to the families who's parents were killed or badly crippled up physically and mentally.These war mongers always come out on top.
Any one that suffered due to his actions, (hate to say it ) is a fool for being conned by the likes of blair and bush and their coherts.
Posted by: thkoby | Nov 2, 2008 10:07:39 PM
hmm
Posted by: rec | Nov 4, 2008 5:42:53 AM
First let me say i admire Tony Blair as a moral,sincere,considerate man. People of his stature should come together in one room each quarter to discuss and promote CHANGE in a world with inherent flaws, i.e. greedy,selfish and wicked men. Race Mongers. Cultural Elitist. Three quarters of the worlds population live in poverty,sickness and neglect. The Arab world with all its money cares little about the plight of AFRICA or SOUTH AMERICA the cornerstone of human kind, they spend their wealth on opulence and excess. DEEP WITHIN ME I KNOW, THE GOD OF CREATION WILL HOLD ALL WHO SQANDER THE GIFTS HE HAS GIVEN,
FULLY ACCOUNTABLE WHEN THEIR LAST BREATH ARRIVES.
Posted by: ZORROONE | Nov 4, 2008 12:56:39 PM
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