How the Formerly "Dead Broke" Clintons Have Fared Financially Since 2001

The income that the couple earned spiked quickly after Bill Clinton left office, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Hillary Clinton’s financial disclosure reports shows.

WSJ reports:

Mrs. Clinton’s personal financial disclosures as U.S. senator and as secretary of state show the couple took in at least $12.3 million in 2001, up from $336,134 in 2000, Bill Clinton’s last year as president. Those filings disclose income and assets in ranges, and the Journal’s review is based on the minimum figures. The disclosures don’t necessarily include all of Mr. Clinton’s income. 

The bulk of the Clintons’ disclosed 2001 income came from paid speeches Mr. Clinton gave that year,which earned him $9.2 million. They earned another $2.8 million from book royalties.

Since then, their annual income has fluctuated, but it has never dipped below $3.5 million. Since 2008, it steadily climbed, reaching $16.7 million in 2012. Mrs. Clinton, who drew a salary as senator from 2001 through early 2009 and then secretary of state through early 2013, has been a regular on the speaking circuit since leaving office early in 2013, but she is no longer required to disclose her income after exiting public office.

To be sure, the Clintons have also had hefty expenses. At the end of Mr. Clinton’s presidency, they owed heavy legal fees, paying more than $1.3 million in 2001 alone to cover legal bills for themselves and former staff members, according to the disclosures. But they have also been able to purchase two expensive homes, one for $1.7 million in Chappaqua, N.Y., and another in Washington, D.C., for $2.85 million. In 2008, Mrs. Clinton loaned her presidential campaign $5 million to better compete with then-Sen. Barack Obama.