Another Retiree Strikes It Rich on Visit to Japan
He came, he spoke and he will go home a richer man.
One year after becoming the first Soviet leader since World War II to visit Japan, former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is making a triumphant return--only this time for a price.
Sources estimated that Gorbachev could go home $300,000 to $400,000 richer than when he came. His hosts refuse to officially confirm or deny the figures. Such sums would boost already bountiful earnings that Gorbachev is set to earn in private life.
The Russian TV news show “Vesti” recently estimated that his outside income, mainly from books and articles published abroad, could total as much as $10 million a year.
Others say the true figure is probably far less.
A spokesman for the Yomiuri newspaper said that Gorbachev is being paid nowhere near the $2 million that former President Ronald Reagan received for his Japan visit.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
