Tony Blair secures 2,000-pounds-a-minute speech deal with London hedge fund

London, Jan. 26 (ANI): The earnings of Tony Blair as a speaker are set to receive a further boost, as the former British Prime Minister has secured a 2,000-pounds-a-minute deal as a paid speaker with London-based hedge fund, Lansdowne Partners.

Blair will give some private speeches to the staff of the Mayfair-based fund this year, potentially earning him hundreds of thousands of pounds, The Guardian reports.

Although Blair's spokesman declined to comment on his fees, he is reported to earn as much as 180,000 pounds for 90 minutes for his thoughts on geopolitical matters in countries from Spain to the Philippines.

"He [Blair] remains one of the most popular speakers around the world," his spokesman said.

Blair, 56, has made over 10 million pounds since leaving office from deals including books, advisory roles and event appearances. He is reported to have received 4.6 million pounds for his memoirs, to be published after the general election.

Blair also receives about 2 million pounds for an advisory and representative role with US investment bank JP Morgan, and another half a million from Zurich Financial Services. He has a 63,000 pounds annual pension, funded by UK taxpayers.

His deal with Lansdowne is also controversial because one of the firm's founders, the former Goldman Sachs banker Paul Ruddock, has donated about 260,000 pounds to the Conservative party. (ANI)