*After a reported bidding war that involved at least four publishers, former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have decided to go with Penguin Random House, the publisher announced Tuesday.
The deal includes a promise to donate 1 million books in the Obama family’s name to First Book, which is dedicated to promoting educational opportunity via new books to children in need. First Book is a longtime Penguin Random House nonprofit partner and the Washington-based partner for the 2016 White House digital education initiative Open eBooks.
Per the publisher’s announcement, the Obamas also plan on donating a “significant portion” of the book deal to charity, including the newly established Obama Foundation.
There were no details yet on the titles and publishing dates for their latest books. The financial terms of the deals were not disclosed, but the bidding war over global rights to two books from the Obamas were said to have topped $60 million, the Financial Times reported earlier Tuesday.
“We are absolutely thrilled to continue our publishing partnership with President and Mrs. Obama,” Penguin CEO Markus Dohle said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. “With their words and their leadership, they changed the world, and every day, with the books we publish at Penguin Random House, we strive to do the same.”
Dohle said the publisher is looking forward to working with the former president and first lady to “make each of their books global publishing events of unprecedented scope and significance.”
In the past, the Obamas have published books through Crown, a Penguin imprint.
The former president has written “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope,” while the former first lady wrote a book about food and gardening called “American Grown,” released in 2012.
Below, more details of the deal via The Hollywood Reporter:
The Obamas were represented by Williams & Connolly partners Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell. Barnett has been the go-to guy for politician book deals for a generation. (He also has helped with Hillary Clinton’s debate prep for years, often playing the opposing candidate.) Barnett and Howell charge by the hour for legal services instead of taking the standard literary agent commission, potentially saving the Obamas upwards of $9 million in fees.
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