Tony Blair is an ambitious man. Since stepping down as British prime minister, he has come to preside over a vast web of business and charitable interests that have, as the Financial Times put it, a "Byzantine structure" that makes Blair finances "difficult to understand." But for the man who would become the E.U.'s first president, the proximity of these ventures is uncomfortable. If he becomes E.U. president, he'd have to drastically alter his vast empire thanks to rules requiring office holders to forgo "paid or unpaid work." Blair's advisory work would have to end, he'd have to stop his lucrative practice of making speeches, his charities would have to be restructured to make him powerless, he couldn't raise funds for any of them, and he would have to skip the book tour for his forthcoming memoirs. It's no wonder he's not "mentally set" to take on the new role just yet, and is mulling his decision carefully. Would the sacrifice be worth it?
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