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.