WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden has made his first known move to monetize his post-presidency, announcing Monday that he will be represented by Creative Artists Agency for as-yet unknown services.
The talent agency deal comes after insiders speculated on how Biden and his family might make money — after reaping millions from foreign patrons and a dubious Ivy League professorship during and after his vice presidency.
"President Biden is one of America's most respected and influential voices in national and global affairs," CAA co-chairman Richard Lovett said.
Former President Joe Biden signed with Creative Arts Agency, a rep announced on Monday, indicating that the 82-year-old may be ready to start more Hollywood ventures after leaving the White House. Getty Images "His lifelong commitment to public service is one of unity, optimism, dignity and possibility. We are profoundly honored to partner with him again."
CAA also reps Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground media company, which has produced nearly two dozen films and TV shows — including the Oscar-winning documentary "American Factory" — and podcasts featuring the former first couple.
Biden's precise plans remain unclear, though he used the same agency to rep him after he left the vice presidency to promote his 2017 book "Promise Me, Dad."
The revelation didn't mention a book being in the works, meaning it's possible that Biden simply intends to use entertainment audiences — a common and lucrative practice for former politicians.
Biden as president earned an annual salary of $400,000, but he — and relatives invoking his name — commanded much more after his vice presidency.
One month after leaving office in 2017, Biden was named the University of Pennsylvania's "Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor" — drawing nearly $1 million through 2019 despite just nine known visits to the Philadelphia school's campus, one of them to promote his own book.
"President Biden is one of America's most respected and influential voices in national and global affairs," CAA co-chairman Richard Lovett said. Getty Images Through that gig, Biden also was provided with a glass-enclosed office space in DC, where he stored classified documents that later were subject to special counsel Robert Hur's inquiry into potential criminal liability.
Biden drew an outcry from ethics experts when he rewarded his former boss at Penn, the school's longtime president Amy Gutmann, with the US ambassadorship to Germany.
The 46th president also scored a windfall speaking at colleges after being VP, according to financial disclosures — despite regularly railing against the burden of student debt.
He took $190,000 to speak at Drew University in New Jersey, $182,000 from Lake Michigan College in the Wolverine State, $180,000 to appear at Vanderbilt University, $180,000 to speak at the University of Buffalo, $125,000 to visit Southern Connecticut State University, $100,000 to speak at Long Island University, and $93,000 to grace Brown University.
Jill Biden also cashed in on speaking fees after serving as second lady — taking $66,000 from Foothill-De Anza Community College in California, $38,000 from Stanford University and $36,000 from Loyola University of Chicago.
The Bidens routed much of the proceeds through what's known as S-corporations to avoid paying Medicare taxes — drawing Republican claims that the couple bilked $500,000 from Uncle Sam by undercounting what share of more than $13 million in income should count as the fruits of their own labor.
Biden's relatives also scored big paydays after his prior stint in public office — with Chinese government-linked CEFC China Energy paying millions of dollars for little if any work ostensibly scouting natural gas business opportunities that didn't come to fruition.
Former Biden family business associate Rob Walker testified to Congress last year that CEFC transferred an initial $3 million to a consortium of Biden's son Hunter and his associates shortly after Joe Biden met CEFC chairman Ye Jianming at DC's Four Seasons hotel in early 2017.
Ye subsequently was jailed in China for alleged corruption.
Another tranche of $5.1 million flowed from CEFC to accounts linked to Hunter Biden and Joe's younger brother James Biden within 10 days of Hunter sending a threatening text message sent in July 2017 declaring he was "sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled."
Joe Biden claimed he wasn't actually sitting with Hunter, but photos from the future first son's abandoned laptop show he was indeed at his dad's Wilmington, Del., home.
Biden has not specifically revealed what his life will look like in the coming years, but had said in the final days of his term that he expected his voice to continue to influence politics.
"We're leaving office, we're not leaving the fight," he told his supporters after leaving Washington alongside first lady Jill Biden on Jan. 20.
The 46th president has not spoken publicly since that day, and has confined himself to posts on X.
"Just got off a call with Ken Martin to congratulate him on his victory," Biden tweeted Saturday after the Minnesotan was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee."I know he'll help ensure Democrats continue to fight for working people and stand up to the abuse of power. Together, we will choose possibility over peril and empower more Americans to believe that the America of our dreams is closer than we think.
"We just have to keep the faith and spread it."
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