Gorbachev May Have Earned $7.5 Million on Book: Publisher
Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s book “Perestroika” has earned him $1.5 million in royalties in West Germany alone, his German publisher said today.
Peter Schaper, head of the publishing house Droemer Knaur Verlag, said it is possible that Gorbachev’s global royalties to date total as much as $7.5 million.
He said the book has sold about 10 million copies worldwide and 800,000 copies since it came out in late 1987 in West Germany, where people greeted Gorbachev as if he were a pop star during his visit this week. “Perestroika” is currently seventh on West Germany’s best-seller list.
Gorbachev has said royalties will be shared by the Communist Party and social purposes such as relief for earthquake victims in Armenia, the Soviet cultural fund and a children’s park in Moscow.
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