Yeah, these speaking engagements are used for behind the scenes payouts. Some CEOs just hire them out of vanity of course. “Look at me I go and rent former presidents to dance on our stage!”.
Btw, a lot of people must have written in to the NYTimes and complained about the ambiguous phrasing of the “Connected to a Prostitution Ring” headline which prompted them to change it.
About 8 hours after the news broke they changed it to
“Elliot Spitzer connected to a Prostitution Ring as a client“