poost vice presidency wealth accumulation Biden's financial situation took a significant turn after his tenure as vice president under Barack Obama upon leaving office in 2017 Biden and his wife Dr Jill Biden embarked on a successful career as authors and public speakers their Memoirs and appearances became major sources of income transforming their financial standing in 2017 and 2018 alone the bidens reported earning more than $15 million a large portion of this income came from book deals including Biden's Memoir promis me dad which detailed his experiences during his son Bo Biden's battle with cancer the bidens also earned substantial fees from speaking engagements with Joe Biden commanding as much as $200,000 per speech