How Much did Obama get for his climate change address in Milan? Critics ponder

Former US President Barack Obama

With the ex-president of the US, Barack Obama's new job in public speaking, critics are beginning to wonder how much of a golden goose it is. 

Obama is under attack for from friend and foe alike by signing on for a pair of speeches at $400,000 apiece, but a mystery fee for a climate change address in Milan this week could leave those deals in the dust.

Neither Team Obama nor Seeds & Chips, the organization hosting the May 8-11 Italian summit, will say how much Obama is getting paid. That prompted wild speculation from one publication, which did a back-of-the-napkin estimation that put Obama's payment at a potential $3.2 million.

While that number appears to have been the total cost for all 3,500 tickets to the event on how food innovation can save humanity from climate change, which went for 850 euros, or $925, a piece, it still leaves open the question of how much Obama got?

Michela Gelati -- a spokesperson for Seeds & Chips, -- told Fox News that they did not have the information. The secrecy surrounding the ex-president's potential payday comes after he raised eyebrows by striking two lucrative deals that seemed to contradict his image as a champion of the 99 percent.

While Obama’s speaking fees may be nothing new for a former president, he also has come under scrutiny for allegedly using his tax-exempt Obama Foundation as a money generator.

Obama's foundation is in place to raise money for his presidential library, but critics warn that the operation is starting to look like the controversial Clinton Foundation, which took in tens of millions of dollars and sparked "pay-to-play" accusations. In an apparent effort to avoid such comparisons, Obama said in January that he would not accept contributions from for-profit entities, federal lobbyists or foreign nationals or agents while in office.

Despite the criticism, it is not uncommon for former presidents to get big bucks to give speeches once they leave the Oval Office.