Bill Zanker, founder and president of the Learning Annex. Zanker hired Donald Trump in 2005 to speak at three real estate investing seminars for $1 million per speech.

Those went so well that the company proceeded to hire him for another 17 seminars in 2006-07 for $1.5 million each. Zanker claims that he’s turned a profit on every event, where admission prices top out around $500”
“He’s worth every penny,” Zanker says. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years. There is no better business speaker than Donald Trump. He attracts the biggest crowds in the world.”

Former president Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) was paid $2 million by media company Fujisankei Communications for two speeches and a handful of press interviews during a tour of Japan. Adjusting for inflation reveals that he was paid over $1.7 million per speech in today’s currency so we may consider these the most expensive speeches ever made.

Another former president, Bill Clinton generated $10.2 million in speaking fees in 2006 (the most recent year for which public records are available); he remains one of most popular top-tier speakers around !

Learning Annex even offered Paris Hilton a million dollars last year to speak at a Learning Annex seminar on building your own brand. She turned him down. “I thought she was a brilliant brander, but I think I was a little ahead of her.” Bill Zanker said…