So just how much do celebrity speakers cost? It depends on what you consider a “celebrity.” Just like in Hollywood, the celebrity speaking circuit has A-listers, B-listers, C-listers and so on. In this article we will reveal how much it costs to book a celebrity speaker at each of these levels. In addition, we will give you some inside knowledge on how to ballpark speaker fees. This will help you determine realistic speaker options in your budget range prior to reaching out to any speakers bureau or booking agent.
Celebrity speakers cost varies according to a variety of factors:
- Current Professional Responsibilities
- Career Accomplishments
- Location & Scope of Work Requested
- Client Demand & Relevance
Let’s break this down. First, a celebrity speaker’s current professional responsibilities largely determine both fee and availability. If a celebrity is currently in production or working on a major career project, they do not have much free time to travel and take outside speaking engagements. Thus, their time is worth a pretty penny. To that end, they’re not as amenable to accepting speaking offers because of their overriding professional responsibility.
Secondarily, you need to take into account the celebrity speaker’s career accomplishments. Do they need the money? Sure it’s hard to turn down a $500,000 offer. But not many organizations have that kind of expendable cash. So while a $150,000 offer may be a lot to you, it may not be enough to entice an A-list celebrity.
Having said that, there are some A-listers who love doing speaking engagements. Ashton Kutcher is one who is very active on the speaking circuit. His speaking fee falls in the range of $200,000-$300,000+ depending on event proximity to his location and scope of work on site. Most speakers will give a 60-minute keynote or moderated Q&A plus a 30-minute meet & greet with VIP guests. If you want the celebrity speaker to participate in more activities on site, their fee will reflect that. Likewise, a celebrity who has to travel more than a few hours away is going to require a higher fee because they are pulled from their personal and professional duties for a longer period of time.
Finally, client demand and relevance are huge determining factors for celebrity speaker fees. Celebrities field a ton of requests each year. As their speaking schedule begins to fill up, they may begin to charge more because they’re in demand. Celebrities who are less relevant in current society or “past their prime” so to speak scale their fee according to relevance and demand. That is why you see so many retired A-listers active on the speaking circuit. Personal appearances are icing on the cake after a career of success in their chosen industry.
Below is a guide to celebrity speakers cost. It is important to note that these fees can change at any time given the factors above.
$500,000-$1,000,000 – This range is reserved for the larger than life figures in business and entertainment. That includes celebrities such as:
- Bill Gates
- Amy Poehler
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
- George Clooney
- Jennifer Aniston
- Jerry Seinfeld
- Lebron James
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Oprah Winfrey
- Will Smith
$250,000 – $500,000 – This range features celebrities in entertainment and business that are a bit more amenable to speaking engagements:
- Cameron Diaz
- Chris Pratt
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Mark Cuban
- Margot Robbie
- Matthew McConaughey
- Reese Witherspoon
- Richard Branson
- Ron Howard
- Scarlett Johansson
$100,000 – $250,000 – This is the sweet spot for big name celebrity speakers who are active on the circuit:
- Alex Rodriguez
- Arianna Huffington
- Eva Longoria
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- Jay Leno
- Jessica Alba
- Magic Johnson
- Peyton Manning
- Taraji P. Henson
- Sara Blakely
- Shaquille O’Neal
$25,000 – $100,000 – This range is a gold mine for affordable celebrities in addition to seasoned keynote speakers:
- Aly Raisman
- Bob Costas
- Chip & Joanna Gaines
- Henry Winkler
- Joan Lunden
- Joe Theismann
- Kevin O’Leary
- Terry Bradshaw
- Tiffani Thiessen
- Randi Zuckerberg
Obviously there are so many celebrity personalities across the board. This list is simply a guide in hopes to give you a better understanding of how much a celebrity speaker costs and the reasons behind those fees. Do you have a question about a specific celebrity’s fees? Need a list of suggestion in your budget range? Send us an email so one of our booking agents can give you the inside scoop!