Julian Assange in £1million autobiography deal

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has signed a deal worth over £1million for his autobiography, according to the Sunday Times.

Assange told the paper he did not want to write the book but was forced into it by financial problems brought on partly by legal costs incurred as a result of allegations against him of sexual assault by two women in Sweden.

“I don’t want to write this book, but I have to,” he said. “I have already spent £200,000 for legal costs and I need to defend myself and to keep WikiLeaks afloat.”

Assange said he would receive $800,000 dollars from Alfred A. Knopf, his American publisher, and a British deal with Canongate is worth £325,000 pounds.

Money from other markets and serialisation is expected to raise the total to £1.1 million, he said.

The Sunday Times is behind a paywall