If he chooses to, he will join the lecture circuit at an ideal moment. The most lucrative live events, like corporate conferences and annual meetings, have come roaring back in recent months after a two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic. In late September, the Clinton Global Initiative held its first in-person conference since 2019, as did Fast Company’s Innovation Festival, which had some 5,700 registrants — 700 more than three years ago.
“The opportunity to collide with people who are not in your normal business or social circle, that’s something live events are really good at,” said Stephanie Mehta, the chief executive of Mansueto, which owns Fast Company. “People are craving a chance to get out of their bubble.”
Mr. Johnson is expected to fetch as much as $250,000 per speech, and even more for his first outing or two, say executives at speakers’ bureaus. Because he remains a member of Parliament, he will need to report that income publicly, through what is called the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. In 2019, after he quit the foreign secretary post, he reported earning £122,000 (about $132,000) from Living Media India for a three-hour speaking engagement — a payday he is likely to routinely exceed now.
More than ever, he needs the money. A 58-year-old with two divorces, a third wife and six children, Mr. Johnson earned 157,000 pounds as prime minister, about $178,000. Along with those high overhead costs, the man has expensive tastes. When he and his third wife redecorated their official residence at No. 11 Downing Street, an invoice leaked to The Independent showed that the work cost £200,000 ($226,000), including a £3,675 drinks trolley and a pair of sofas that cost more than £15,000. Mr. Johnson was accused in news reports of using Conservative Party donations to cover some of the renovations, and he repaid the money.
For the biggest paydays for speeches, he will need to leave the United Kingdom.
“He won’t be popular here,” said Gina Nelthorpe Cowne, co-founder and managing director of Kruger Cowne, a British talent management agency. “He’ll get occasional interest, and if he’s lucky he’ll get £50,000 to £60,000 a speech. But there were too many lies; he was too deceitful on too many levels. He’s humorous, but the British public have looked at the facts, looked at the damage he’s done.”
