Assange: WikiLeaks Losing $600k Per Week, Delaying Bank Doc Dump

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, says his website has been losing a massive amount of money since it first published diplomatic cables.

The financial world was abuzz when rumors surfaced of a major document dump from WikiLeaks destined to embarrass one of America's banking giants.

Bank of America reportedly set up a crisis team to deal with the dump, and stocks fell on the rumors.

The financial system can take a breather, however, for now.

In an interview with two Swiss newspapers, Assange said WikiLeaks has been losing "600,000 francs," the equivalent of roughly $618,000, every week since they first began publishing diplomatic cables.

While external political pressures on WikiLeaks have not deterred their work, their financial troubles have certainly caused problems, Assange said.

CBS News Special Report: WikiLeaks

"We will not divulge (the banking documents we have) right away," Assange said. "We are too busy with the diplomatic cables and with our financial troubles."

Despite reports of a book deal worth more than $1 million, Assange said the money has not been realized yet, and that he will only truly see a financial windfall from his memoir if it sells well.

Assange does not divulge in the interview with Swiss papers exactly what is costing his website so much money.

WikiLeaks has, however, been the target of frequent cyberattacks, and it has also had several avenues for receiving funds, from PayPal to Mastercard, cut off.

Additionally, Assange himself has been dealing with a lengthy legal process in England involving sexual assault charges in Sweden.

The rate at which WikiLeaks has released U.S. diplomatic cables to the public has slowed dramatically in the last few weeks. Assange assured his Swiss interviewers, however, that things more or less function normally with his website, despite the financial difficulties.

[Harden_Tar]

Oh well. That's life Assange. I can't believe that number is right. Basic number crunching puts that at 2.4 million a month. Almost 29 mil a year. How the hell does Wikileaks make money anyway. Web ads? If the pressure stays on, maybe he will go belly up.

[Whitey_Lawful]

Keep on exposing what us on the fringe already --in spirit-- realise, WikiLeaks.

[AnnieDanny]

He's making THAT much money every WEEK??? You really gotta wonder WHO is funding this guy.

And, do people honestly think that the trouble and chaos wikileaks generates is going to solve anything? This is not the way to solve the world's problems.

Maybe we oughta get back to basics, such as caring for widows and orphans. There's still plenty of those around. It would be a whole lot better than helping this Assange creep accomplish nuthin-but-trouble.

[Calendular]

AnnieDanny, I could not agree with you more!

[Hckr_wolF]

@anniedanny and calendular

You must be confused somehow... it says he's LOSING that much money every week - and they don't even know if that's a correct translation of what was really said.
And how do you suggest we solve problems like governments and big businesses being corrupt, keeping secrets, and most importantly, stopping people from expressing their freedom of speech?
Maybe you oughta look at the big picture. If you really think Assange is causing "nuthin-but-trouble", I wouldn't ever want to live in a country with your ideal government running things.

[GeoffreyTransom]

You folks need to get better translators. The Swiss interview says '600,000 francs par semaine'; that's $600k per WEEK.

Even that number is an order of magnitude too high to be anything other than an error; given that Assange is not fluently francophone, I would argue that in all likelihood one of the two following is correct:\

(1) Assange meant to say $600K overall since the documents have been released (or perhaps even $600 par jour (per day); OR
(2) the interview was in English and the translator into French made the mistake.

Wikileaks doesn't have a 600k CHF budget per YEAR, let alone per day.

Cheers


GT