Who are the most powerful celebrities in the world?
Submitted by Bilyana Petrinska on Fri, 06/13/2008 - 08:15.
Oprah Winfrey still heads the list of "Forbes" magazine as the most powerful celebrity in the world.
The publication announces the ranking every year, taking into account two main criteria - last year's income and popularity (appearance on TV screen, covers of magazines, advertising commitments, Google searches on the name and others). Under income is understood money won for the period June 2007 - June 2008 before taxing. Only money earned from showbiz is included (fees, advertising, etc.).
Although the rating of Oprah Winfrey's show has been falling in the recent months, she can brag about her 275 million dollars won (before taxing) for the last year.
The most expensive paid sportsman in the world Tiger Woods comes seconds (115 million dollars), while third is Angelina Jolie (14 million dollars).
In top 10 there are 2 star couples - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and Beyonce Knowles and her boyfriend the rapper Jay-Z. After leaving Destiny's Child in 2003, Beyonce issued two platinum albums, and except for music, her name is associated also with fashion and cinema. Revenue from her last tour amounts to 50 million dollars, and from advertising contracts with giants such as L'Oreal, American Express and others she has received 10 million dollars for the last one year.
The other sportsman in the top 10, except for Tiger Woods, is David Beckham. His annual base salary in Los Angeles Galaxy team is 5.5 million dollars, but the sum double by adding the extras that Beckham has negotiated, for instance a percentage of sales of tickets and sports souvenirs. Despite this, he wins big cheques from his advertising contracts with Adidas, Pepsi and Motorola.
The author of the books about Harry Potter Joan K. Rowling also enters Top 10. The last volume of the series, "Harry Potter and the gift of death" caused real furore, and until now 44 million have been sold, of which 15 million only in the first 24 hours!
This year there are 27 new additions on the list as the band of The Police, which sold tickets for its concerts worth 200 million and played before 40 million people over the past 12 months. Among those who dropped off the list were the actors Tom Hanks (number 11 last year), Adam Sandler, Jessica Alba and others.
The actor Will Smith (number 11) and the singer Justin Timberlake (number 12) were just about to enter Top 10. Last year was successful for both of them - Will Smith's movie "I Am Legend" brought revenue of 585 million dollars, and Justin Timberlake's tour sold tickets worth 100 million dollars.
Here are the first ten:
1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Tiger Woods
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Beyonce
5. David Beckham
6. Johnny Depp
7. Jay-Z
8. The Police
9. Joan K. Rowling
10. Brad Pitt
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