President Obama’s associates, on the heels of a recent intimate White House dinner hosted by his wife and him for 13 guests to decide his post-presidency future, came to this startling conclusion: the executive couple could need at least $1 billion to bring their library and foundation dreams to fruition.
Advisers who’ve taken a look at the president’s post-White House days and are attempting to map a future for him and his family have already talked about fundraising strategies to come up with a minimum $800 million, the New York Times reported. But the necessary funds may actually hit the $1 billion mark.
If so, that amount would be double what former President George W. Bush raised for his own presidential library and accompanying programs.
Reportedly, Obama’s tentative post-White House plans call for an endowment of as much as $1 billion to create a foundation with worldwide influence, as well as fund a high-tech, digital library in Chicago.
“Where we’ll end up, I don’t know yet,” said Marty Nesbitt, one of Obama’s longtime Chicago friends who’s helping plan the creation of his library and global foundation, the New York Times said.
Money is the main issue.
The New York Times reported Obama’s only received about $5.4 million for his post-presidency plans from a dozen different donors, including one from Michael Sacks, a Chicago businessman, in the amount of $666,666.
But once Obama leaves office, the real fundraising will begin in earnest, aides said, the newspaper reported.
Among the attendees at his recent White House dinner were: LinkedIn billionaire Reid Hoffman, novelist Toni Morrison, hedge fund manager Marc Lasry, venture capitalist John Doerr, writer Malcolm Gladwell, Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla and actress Eva Longoria. And the New York Times reported nobody was asked outright for donations to his library, but critics say the suggestion was implied because the main topic of conversation was Obama’s future.
