Former President (Sr.) George W. Bush�s $14 Million Speech
In researching we often uncover stories that are so utterly
incredible they�re almost unbelievable. But they are true and
reinforce the uniqueness of barter as a versatile, powerful business
tool.
Opponents of ex-president George W. Bush used to say that he was
born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Now, it turns out he also has
a golden tongue! In 1998 Bush gave what undoubtedly was the highest
paid speech made by anyone, anywhere. After addressing customers in
Tokyo on behalf of Global Crossing, then a fledgling
telecommunications start-up, Bush agreed to take shares of stock in
lieu of his $80,000 fee.
The trade occurred when Bush, sitting at breakfast with the founder
and chairman of the company the morning after the speech, expressed
curiosity about the company. Founder Gary Winnick suggested Bush
take his fee in the form of stock in their nascent concern, which
wasn�t even publicly traded at the time.
Global Crossing went public August 1998, making headlines seven
months later by agreeing to acquire Frontier Corporation. In ten
months Global reached $30 billion in market capitalization. (It took
WorldCom, a standard-bearer for telecom growth stocks, ten years to
reach that mark!)
In all of this excitement, the bottomline for Bush was the $14
million worth of stock he received for his speaking engagement in
Tokyo.