Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in addition to her pension of around 15,000 euros, is set to make a multimillion-euro fortune from her memoirs titled “Freedom.”
The book is being released in 31 countries, including Russia and China, and is priced at 42 euros per copy in Germany.
According to the Frankfurter Sonntags Zeitung, Merkel and her co-author, her office head Beate Baumann, received an advance of a “double-digit million sum” for their work on the book. Experts believe this payment is quite realistic, noting that Merkel’s book has already become a global bestseller, and political parties and foundations traditionally buy such books in large quantities.
The advance for the German-language rights is estimated to be between 1.5 and 1.8 million euros, which significantly surpasses the earnings from the memoirs of Merkel’s predecessor, Helmut Kohl. However, despite the high demand, Merkel’s deal pales in comparison to the one signed by Barack and Michelle Obama, whose memoir contract was worth 60 million euros.
Merkel and Baumann saved on a literary agent by negotiating directly with the Kiepenheuer & Witsch publishing house. On November 27, the former chancellor will hold a book signing session in Berlin and will then embark on a tour across Germany to present the book, with the first stop in Stralsund.
