Are you insinuating that Janet Yellen is not getting paid for her knowledge / advice but instead because of her status?

To be honest, yes, I think that's exactly what's happening. As with the former presidents as well. These companies are happy to shell out a few hundred grand because that's chump change for them and now their employees get to brag to their friends that they heard a talk from Janet Yellen last Tuesday. Celebrity speakers (and I have no doubt that in the world of finance Yellen is a celebrity) are a nice employee perk.

I could be wrong here, what do I know. But that's my read on the situation, and it's why this sort of thing doesn't bother me that much.

Goldman Sachs posts their talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIyiGQywEp655v2qh-3mx...

They're often interesting, but they're fairly anodyne: a famous author talking about their recent book, a CEO talking about their successes or new focus on sustainability/diversity/etc, some broad perspective on current events. You can see how Goldman folks might benefit a little bit from knowing about (say) the likely timeline for vaccine roll-outs, but you could get much of the same info from an hour of NPR.

However, meeting the person seems like a nice perk or recruiting/marketing tool.

If you have to entertain a room full of millionaires who

- all have an interest in finance

- are varying ages (so may not enjoy the same music)

- are from various countries (so may not be into the same sports)

and you have the budget, someone like Yellen is absolutely a substitute good for e.g. having a private Ludacris concert. It's entertainment and continuing education in one. Plus your staff get to brag about the private event to their millionaire peers who did not get that perk.

I was only answering your question, but why can't it be both? Companies like to have celebrities talk to their employees, and rich companies have to pay well.

Citadel probably paid way more for their employees to listen than for her to speak, in terms of wages.