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Obamas Made $4.2 Million, Thanks to Barack Books
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 16, 2008
Modified Apr 16, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 16, 2008
Modified Apr 16, 2008
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The Democratic presidential candidates have just wrapped up their debate, but right before the debate, Barack Obama released his and his wife Michelle's tax returns for 2007, showing they made $4,238,165 last year. Most of it--$3,943,378--was from royalties from Obama's books.
The couple made $260,735 in salaried income and Michelle Obama also earned about $30,000 for sitting on the board of food producer TreeHouse Foods; she left the position, per ABC News, after complaints "TreeHouse is a supplier to Wal-Mart, and Barack Obama has criticized some of Wal-Mart's policies and treatment of employees." They also donated $240,370 to charity (including $26,270 to Trinity United Church of Christ and $50,000 to the United Negro College fund) and ended up paying $1.4 million in taxes.
The couple reported almost $1 million in income for 2006 (you can download their 2000-2006 returns here; here's a PDF of the 2007 return). Two weeks ago, the Clintons released their 2000-2007 returns showing $109 million in income.
Tagged
barack obama
book royalties
election 2008
Michelle obama
tax return
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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