$8 million ways to "Pump You Up!"
Gov. to Be Paid $8 Million by Fitness Magazines
By Peter Nicholas and Robert Salladay
Times Staff Writers
Thu Jul 14, 7:55 AM ET
SACRAMENTO — Two days before he was sworn into office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accepted a consulting job paying an estimated $8 million over five years to "further the business objectives" of a national publisher of health and bodybuilding magazines.
The contract pays Schwarzenegger 1% of the magazines' advertising revenue, much of which comes from makers of nutritional supplements. Last year, the governor vetoed legislation that would have imposed government regulations on the supplement industry.
According to records filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Schwarzenegger entered into the agreement with a subsidiary of American Media Inc. on Nov. 15, 2003. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company publishes Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, among others.
Watchdog groups and state lawmakers called the contract — which refers to Schwarzenegger as "Mr. S" — a conflict of interest.
(...)
In a new book about Schwarzenegger, author Laurence Leamer said the governor was aware that his contract with AMI would prompt the publisher to end any negative coverage of him. In the book, Schwarzenegger is quoted as saying: "Do you want to work with someone who you are attacking?"
For his pay, the governor's most public role is his monthly columns. A seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, he speaks with the magazine editors by phone every few weeks. They take notes, draft a column and send it to him for review, said Vincent Scalisi, editor-in-chief of Muscle & Fitness.
"Obviously, we know that he has a busy, full-time job," Scalisi said in an interview in recent months. "And we don't want to be a drain. But the reality is … what a wonderful resource we have access to."
SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/govtobepaid8millionbyfitnessmagazines;_ylt=AhFLhfocUspm1DjSqozu6t134T0D;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
By Peter Nicholas and Robert Salladay
Times Staff Writers
Thu Jul 14, 7:55 AM ET
SACRAMENTO — Two days before he was sworn into office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accepted a consulting job paying an estimated $8 million over five years to "further the business objectives" of a national publisher of health and bodybuilding magazines.
The contract pays Schwarzenegger 1% of the magazines' advertising revenue, much of which comes from makers of nutritional supplements. Last year, the governor vetoed legislation that would have imposed government regulations on the supplement industry.
According to records filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Schwarzenegger entered into the agreement with a subsidiary of American Media Inc. on Nov. 15, 2003. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company publishes Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, among others.
Watchdog groups and state lawmakers called the contract — which refers to Schwarzenegger as "Mr. S" — a conflict of interest.
(...)
In a new book about Schwarzenegger, author Laurence Leamer said the governor was aware that his contract with AMI would prompt the publisher to end any negative coverage of him. In the book, Schwarzenegger is quoted as saying: "Do you want to work with someone who you are attacking?"
For his pay, the governor's most public role is his monthly columns. A seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, he speaks with the magazine editors by phone every few weeks. They take notes, draft a column and send it to him for review, said Vincent Scalisi, editor-in-chief of Muscle & Fitness.
"Obviously, we know that he has a busy, full-time job," Scalisi said in an interview in recent months. "And we don't want to be a drain. But the reality is … what a wonderful resource we have access to."
SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/govtobepaid8millionbyfitnessmagazines;_ylt=AhFLhfocUspm1DjSqozu6t134T0D;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
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