Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden earned a higher annual salary as a Penn professor than as vice president, according to tax returns released by his campaign on July 9.
Biden made $15.6 million in the two years after he left the White House, including $371,159 in 2017 and $405,368 in 2018 from working at Penn. As vice president of the United States, Biden received an average annual salary of $225,000, according to a Forbes analysis of his tax returns. Penn professors made an average of $213,613 in the 2016-2017 academic year according to the most recent data from the Penn Almanac.
Biden also listed speaking engagement fees and sales of his book as sources of income on his state and federal tax returns.
The former vice president received no payment, or less than $201, for his numerous appearances at Penn since 2017, according to his financial disclosure report. Biden put down honorariums ranging from $8,040 to $234,820 for 30 book tour events and 19 speaking engagements. In 2017, Biden spoke about his book "Promise Me, Dad" at Irvine Auditorium, and in 2018, he made three public appearances at Penn.
Biden and his wife Jill also donated over $1 million to charity in 2017, and listed almost $276,000 in charitable contributions in 2018, according to the Wall Street Journal's analysis of their returns.
The University named Biden a Presidential Professor of Practice in 2017, sparking confusion from students, as Biden does not teach any classes at Penn. As a professor, Biden leads the Washington D.C.-based Penn Biden Center, which officially opened in 2018. In April 2019 Biden began his unpaid leave of absence from Penn to compete for the Democratic presidential nomination.
President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump has not publicly released his tax returns since running for office in 2016. Though his sources of income are not in the public record, Trump may have donated up to $1.4 million to the University, as shown by tax filings from the Trump foundation and University reports.
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