Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have sold the rights to their upcoming memoirs, according to an announcement made on Tuesday. The sale ended a heated bidding war for the rights to the couple's life stories. While the exact financial details of the deal were not officially disclosed, the Financial Times is reporting the bidding war reached over $60 million.
Penguin Random House will publish the memoirs of both Barack and Michelle. They will also donate "one million books to a nonprofit partner for the 2016 White House digital education initiative, Open eBooks," according to Buzzfeed. While it might seem like a big, fat pay for the Obama family, they have decided that they will donate a significant portion of the proceeds to the Obama Foundation.
Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle released a statement about how “absolutely thrilled” the publishing house is to acquire the President's memoirs. "With their words and their leadership, they changed the world," Dohle said of the Obamas. “We are very much looking forward to working together with President and Mrs. Obama to make each of their books global publishing events of unprecedented scope and significance." We can't wait to pick up their memoirs! Fingers crossed President Obama narrates his!