Report: Auction For Obamas’ Book Deal Reaches More Than $60 Million

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 28: President Barack Obama acknowledges the audience upon arriving in the House Chamber of the Capitol to deliver his State of the Union address. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll ... UNITED STATES - JANUARY 28: President Barack Obama acknowledges the audience upon arriving in the House Chamber of the Capitol to deliver his State of the Union address. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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An auction for rights to books by Barack and Michelle Obama has set a new record for U.S. presidential memoirs, according to a report by the Financial Times.

The auction has reached more than $60 million, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the sales process. The Obamas are writing separate books but selling the global rights jointly.

Since leaving office, Barack Obama went on vacation in the British Virgin Islands, where billionaire Richard Branson challenged him to a kite surfing duel.

One of President Donald Trump’s pet conspiracy theories regarding his predecessor was that former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers actually wrote Obama’s 1995 book Dreams From My Father.

“Bill Ayers wrote the book,” Trump claimed in 2011. “And, you know, I wrote many best sellers, and also, number one bestsellers including The Art of the Deal. So I know something about writing.”

Ayers responded multiple times to that allegation by joking that he did write the book, and wants some royalties.

Trump’s ghostwriter for The Art of the Deal, on the other hand, told the New Yorker in 2016 that he “put lipstick on a pig” by presenting Trump in a flattering light.

Asked what he would name the book today, ghostwriter Tony Schwartz told the New Yorker: “The Sociopath.”

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Notable Replies

  1. Makes sense to me. They are both loved and can write in complete sentences. Such a novelty these days.

  2. Can’t wait for the “highly overrated!” 3AM tweet from Orange Hitler after Spicer reads the dust jacket to him.

  3. Avatar for caltg caltg says:

    Even better, both Barack and Michelle actually have something to say!

  4. I will gladly place advance orders for both books when formally announced.

  5. Auction rights for “Donald Trump’s Greatest Tweets” stands at a buck forty-nine. That’s Jared and Ivanka.

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