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James Comey.
- Former-FBI director James Comey has forged a lucrative second-act in media.
- Comey was infamously fired by President Donald Trump in 2017, and in his new life he's made it his mission to return the favor and drive Trump from power, according to The New York Times.
- This new vocation happens to be well-suited for raking in piles of cash, including six-figure speaking fees, prestigious writing contracts, a TV series, and a multimillion dollar book deal.
- A single speaking engagement can net Comey hundreds of thousands - more than his annual salary as FBI director. "Seriously, it's crazy," he said.
- Read more stories like this on Business Insider.
Losing a job and having your career go up in flames can be scarring. But the smoldering embers sometimes give forth to fertile new soil from which to start anew.
Few have had a more public and dramatic firing than former-FBI director James Comey, who President Donald Trump infamously and suddenly ousted in 2017 amid inquiries into Russian meddling and suspicions that he did not have Comey's loyalty.
That fateful decision sent Comey's law-enforcement career up in smoke - and precipitated the special-counsel investigation by Robert Mueller - but also laid the groundwork to launch a lucrative second-act in media, including six-figure speaking fees, prestigious writing contracts, a TV series, and a multimillion dollar book deal.
In a profile of his post-FBI life by Matt Flegenheimer in The New York Times, Comey asserts his primary preoccupation now, as a self-described "unemployed celebrity," is stopping Trump.
This vocation, while lacking the official powers of his former post in the FBI, appears well-suited for raking in piles of cash.
Comey may have lost a roughly $170,000 annual salary as FBI director, but now he earns as much in a single speaking engagement.
He's been traveling the country giving six-figure paid speeches on leadership, as well as gratis appearances at universities, according to the NYT.
"It's a lot!" Comey told the Times. "Seriously, it's crazy."
Comey recently gave talks at Yale, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and the Sacramento Speaker Series, and he's due to speak at "Politicon" in Nashville later this month.
He also has a contract to write opinion columns for The Washington Post, according to the NYT.
And then there's the forthcoming CBS Studios miniseries, in which he'll be portrayed by actor Jeff Daniels. The series is based on Comey's bestselling 2018 book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership," which reportedly netted him millions as well.
Of course, Comey was already a multimillionaire before accepting the job in 2013 as FBI director under President Barack Obama. In financial filings, he reported a net worth of $11 million, not including an anticipated $3 million payout from hedge-fund giant Bridgewater Associates, where Comey spent a couple years as general counsel.
In his new, post-government mission of jettisoning Trump from power, Comey is armed with ample resources to push his message. In additional to financial firepower and legacy media deals, Comey has amassed hordes of social-media followers - 1.3 million on Twitter and just over 100,000 on Instagram.
While Twitter for Comey is generally an all-business affair laser-focused on censuring the Trump administration, judging by his Instagram account, Comey's new life is affording more time for relaxation, travel, and family as well.
"Good to be a grandpa," an uncharacteristically grizzled, bearded Comey reported in August.