This year's Celebrity 50, Forbes' annual list of the world's most powerful and highest paid celebrities. Forbes analyzes the combination of their celebrity earnings, internet hits, press mentions in the media world, the number of times they appear on the cover of 32 major consumer magazines and here goes the rich and mighty...
OPRAH WINFREY Power: Rank 1 Pay: $260 mil Category: Talking Heads
OPRAH WINFREY Power: Rank 1 Pay: $260 mil Category: Talking Heads
The media queen is poised to conquer prime time this fall with two reality shows for ABC. For those keeping score, the Oprah empire already includes a blockbuster daytime talk show, satellite radio show, magazine and Broadway musical ('The Color Purple'). Oprah also owns stakes in hit talk shows by protégé Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray. In January, the nation's richest African American, worth an estimated $1.5 billion, realized a long-held dream when she opened the OprahWinfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.TIGER WOODS Power Rank 2 Pay $100 mil Category: Athletes
Woods is the first athlete in history to bank $100 million in a year, thanks in part to a raise he finagled out of long-time endorser Nike. (The sneaker giant's Tiger-oriented golf division is now a $600 million-a-year business.) He also signed a new deal with Gillette and upped his usual lucrative overseas playing gigs, where he can command, on average, $3 million a pop. Wife Elin is pregnant with the couple's first child, due this summer.MADONNA Power Rank: 3 Pay: $72 mil Category: Musicians
Madonna crisscrossed the globe last year for her tour, 'Confessions,' which drew over 1 million fans and grossed $194 million, making it the top-earning tour by a female artist in history. NBC cut the Material Girl a hefty check to broadcast the 'Confessions' tour live last November, though ratings proved disappointing. In March, the always-fashion-forward singer linked up with retailer H&M for her own clothing line, M. (Rhinestones a-plenty, but no cone bras.) Generated a maelstrom of negative publicity last year for her adoption of a baby in Malawi.ROLLING STONES Power Rank: 4 Pay: $88 mil Category: Musicians
Still gathering no moss, the Stones had the highest-grossing tour in North America last year, bringing in $139 million. They doubled that abroad. The 'Bigger Bang' tour, which kicked off back in 2005, has grossed $437 million to date, making it the top-generating tour in history. This time around, Keith Richards, not Mick Jagger, dominated headlines thanks to his star turn in the recent Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, in addition to comments made this spring that he once snorted his father's ashes. (He later recanted.)BRAD PITT Power Rank: 5 Pay: $35 mil Category: Actors
The hunky actor monopolized headlines for the last year thanks his new role as proud papa with stunning partner Angelina Jolie. She gave birth to their daughter last May; 10 months later, the pair adopted a Vietnamese boy. Earlier this year, the brood relocated to New Orleans—paparazzi in tow—where Pitt was filming The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This summer, he stars opposite pal George Clooney in Ocean's 13, followed by this fall's The Assassination of Jesse James, alongside Ocean's co-star Casey Affleck.JOHNNY DEPP Power Rank: 6 Pay: $92 mil Category: Actors
Never before has a Keith Richards impersonation proved this lucrative. Last summer's Pirates sequel, Dead Man's Chest, was the third-highest-grossing film ever, with $1.1 billion worldwide at the box office. Depp's payout: over $60 million. Next year should prove equally profitable for the low-key actor. The third Pirates sequel, At World's End, is on its way to at least match its predecessor, having banked $344 million in its opening weekend. Next up: starring role as the blood-thirsty butcher in this winter's film adaptation of Sweeney Todd.ELTON JOHN Power Rank: 7 Pay: $53 mil Category: Musicians
Between performances of his appropriately flamboyant Las Vegas show, 'The Red Piano,' Elton John grossed over $60 million in tickets for worldwide shows. This year, he celebrated his 60th birthday with his 60th concert at Madison Square Garden, a sold-out affair that drew A-listers like Bill Clinton, Jon Bon Jovi and Sharon Stone. Theatergoers still snap up tickets to hear his music in Aida, Billy Elliot and The Lion King. John's latest release, Rocket Man: Number Ones, debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard charts in April, selling 50,000 copies in its first week.TOM CRUISE Power Rank: 8 Pay: $31 mil Category: Actors
After being dumped by Paramount last summer, Cruise, who topped last year's Celebrity 100, plotted his comeback (with longtime producing partner Paula Wagner) as head of United Artists, the moribund studio under MGM. UA's lineup: Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford, for release this winter; Valkyrie, a World War II thriller, in production now. Cruise stars in both. Word is he'll join comedy kingpin Ben Stiller in Hardy Men, a send-up of the Hardy Boys series. On the personal front, Cruise enjoyed a decidedly quiet year with his wife, actress Katie Holmes, and their toddler Suri. JAY - Z Power Rank: 9 Pay: $83 mil Category: Hip-Hop Impresario
While most of us pine for retirement, the native New Yorker couldn't stand the view from the sidelines following his 2003 farewell Black Album. Despite a busy schedule as chief of Def Jam, his comeback album, Kingdom Come, debuted at the top of Billboard's pop and rap charts. Owns a small stake in the New Jersey Nets, plus two locations of his 40/40 clubhouse. In March, he sold his Rocawear apparel label to Iconix for $204 million. Did we mention Beyonce?STEVEN SPIELBERG Power Rank: 10 Pay:$110 mil Category: Directors/Producers
From Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. The critical hits performed only modestly at the box office, grossing a combined $173 million worldwide. Spielberg's big take on movie grosses (reportedly up to 50%) insures success with nearly every project he works on. Not that he shouldn't make a mint off his next films—sequels to Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park. He's also developing three games for Electronic Arts, and co-produced On the Lot, a reality filmmaking show, with Mark Burnett ( Survivor).11 Tom Hanks 12 Grey's Anatomy cast 13 Howard Stern 14 Angelina Jolie15 David Beckham 16 Phil Mickelson 17 David Letterman18 Bon Jovi 19 Donald Trump 20 Celine Dion 21 Simon Cowell 22 U2 23 Kobe Bryant 24 Michael Schumacher 25 Shaquille O'Neal 26 Jay Leno 27 Nicole Kidman 28 Ben Stiller 29 Alex Rodriguez 30 Dr. Phil McGraw 31 Ronaldinho 32 50 Cent 33 Brian Grazer/Ron Howard 34 Justin Timberlake 35 Michael Jordan 36 Rush Limbaugh 37 Tim McGraw 38 Roger Federer 39 Jerry Bruckheimer 40 George Clooney 41 Kimi Raikkonen 42 Jerry Seinfeld 43 Sean (Diddy) Combs 44 Jennifer Aniston 45 Adam Sandler 46 Oscar De La Hoya 47 Cast of Desperate Housewives 48 LeBron James 48 J.K. Rowling 50 Derek Jeter
For the complete list go to Forbes.
