Sarkozy ‘will talk in New York’

NICOLAS Sarkozy is said to be set to start a new career giving paid-for speeches, with a talk in New York.

Radio station Europe 1 says the ex-president will talk to “the economic players of the whole world” next month.

The announcement has come as no surprise – Sarkozy being reported by Le Point in 2008 to have said: “I’ll do this for five years and then I’ll leave to make dosh, like Clinton – €150,000 per talk”.

Recently he told Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD): “My immediate future is to do something useful and that allows me to earn money. I’ve found a way.”

Last month satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaîné claimed he had been offered €250,000 by American investment bank Morgan Stanley for a 45 minute talk, though this was denied by a Sarkozy spokeswoman.

According to JDD Sarkozy recently said he finds it “horrible” in Paris at present and “can’t put a foot out of doors”, while Le Point reported that he was heard to say: “All these people who shout at me saying how much they miss me - I can’t take it any more. I prefer insults to that.”

Photo: Moritz Hager