Clooney’s Obama fundraiser is a sellout

Two Geneva fundraising events for US presidential candidate Barack Obama hosted by George Clooney have raised more than $900,000 (SFr1 million).

The Hollywood actor and director arrived in Geneva on Tuesday for his first appearance on behalf of the Democratic nominee.

Some 170 contributors – all US citizens – paid $1,000 a head to hear Clooney speak at a cocktail party held at a museum in Geneva’s Old Town.

Afterwards, 75 supporters spent $10,000 each to attend “an intimate seated dinner” with the 47-year-old star at the organiser’s nearby apartment, according to the American lawyer Charles Adams who set up the twin “private” events.

“Actually most of our guests for dinner are coming from elsewhere – people are flying in from Los Angeles, Prague, London, Zurich and so on,” Adams said before the event.

Almost six million Americans live abroad, including some 16,400 in Switzerland, of whom about 4,500 are in Geneva.