Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards earned nearly a half million dollars while working as a part-time adviser for a New York-based hedge fund.

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, reported in a campaign filing today that he earned $479,512 as a senior adviser to Fortress Investment Group LLC last year, Rob Christensen reports.

Edwards also earned $333,334 in royalties from his book on boyhood homes that was published by HarperCollins Publishers. He donated the money to charity.

Edwards reported that he earned $40,000 from his position as director of UNC-Chapel Hill's Center on Poverty Work and Opportunity.

He also reported earning $415,000 in speaking fees, mainly to universities. He typically charged $32,000 to $40,000 per speech.