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Updated: 02:02 PM EST
Clark's Income Skyrockets After Career Move
By DAVID HAMMER, AP
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Dec. 13) - Thanks mostly to book deals and speaking fees, Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark parlayed income of $60,000 as a four-star general in 1999 into a 2002 private-sector salary of more than $1.6 million, his tax records show.
After retiring from the Army, Clark hit the ground running as a rookie investment banker at Stephens Group Inc. of Little Rock, the largest investment firm not on Wall Street. With that entree into the business world, he quickly received consulting jobs and seats on the boards of several smaller or mid-sized corporations.
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More than half of the retired general's income in the past two years came from speeches and book-writing, Clark's financial disclosure form being filed with the Federal Election Commission shows.
Just three of his board positions produced fees of more than $239,000. In 14 months, Clark made more than $1 million at Stephens before leaving the company to start his own consulting firm. Clark's checking account at his new consulting business contains $500,000 to $1 million, according to his disclosure form, which allows filers to provide income ranges instead of specific amounts.
Last year, Clark became board chairman at WaveCrest Laboratories in Virginia, collecting $195,000 for consulting on the design and distribution of the company's motorized bicycle that is being marketed to the U.S. military.
AP file
Book deals helped boost the retired general's income in 2002, tax records show.
Tom McMahon, spokesman for WaveCrest, has said the research and development firm made Clark its board chairman because of his intense interest in science and technology.
Clark told The Associated Press last month that military technology played a big role in his post-military career. But he said he received those lucrative jobs and directorships ''because I was a smart guy who could provide leadership,'' not so much as a gadget guru.
Clark's net worth is between $3 million and $3.5 million, his campaign says.
During Clark's last full year in the military, his taxable income from his military pay was $58,000, at a time when he was NATO's supreme allied commander overseeing the war in Kosovo. Clark leaves Sunday to testify at the war-crimes trial of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosovic.
In his first full year at Stephens, Clark's income was $670,000, excluding his military retirement pay. Last year, his income was $1.52 million, minus his military pension of $85,000.
For 2001, Clark's earnings from writing, speeches and sitting on boards of directors amounted to $421,955. Last year, that figure was $971,885.
Clark's speaking engagements have brought him nearly $1.5 million in income in the last 23 months.
The Clark campaign's release of his tax returns is an effort ''to give the American people a complete sense of his financial background,'' said spokesman Chris Lehane.
Clark owns houses in Little Rock and in Virginia and he recently sold a rental property in Colorado, collecting between $15,000 and $50,000 on the sale, according to his disclosure form. He also owns a home on 20 acres west of Little Rock in rural Paron, Ark.
You asked: What are the odds of Wesley Clark and Howard Dean teaming up
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Clark holds shares of stock in dozens of individual companies, and made $50,000 to $100,000 on his investment in a pharmaceutical company, Pharmathene, that specializes in bioterrorism vaccines and treatments.
Because of an oversight by his accountant, Clark had to pay an extra $24 to Internal Revenue Service in 2001 because of an error on taxes regarding household help. |
