It’s fair to say that being famous is awesome. I mean, look at the fact that last year the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities amassed $5.15 billion. That’s more than some countries’ GDP. Oh yes, more than their GDPs combined. On the top, we found Diddy who earned $130 million. He was followed by Beyonce and J.K Rowling. Queen B made $105 million, and the author of Harry Potter books earned $95 million.
Diddy had few words of wisdom for the Forbes. ‘We live in a world where artists don’t really make the money off the music like we did in the Golden Age. It’s not really coming in until you hit the stage.’ It’s fair to say that he got on pretty well in the world of music.
We have made a list for you to see this year’s top 100 celebrities sorted by their earnings from the highest paid to those that are paid ‘the lowest.’ We have excluded fees for agents, managers and lawyers. We based our estimates on figures from NPD Bookscan, Nielsen, Pollstar, Box Office Mojo, Songkick, D’Marie and IMDB. So sit back and look, you might be surprised.
Rank, Name, Earnings (Profession, Country)
1. Diddy, $130 million (Musician, U.S.)
2. Beyoncé, $105 million (Musician, U.S.)
3. J.K. Rowling, $95 million (Author, U.K.)
4. Drake, $94 million (Musician, U.S.)
5. Cristiano Ronaldo, $93 million (Athlete, Portugal)
6. The Weeknd, $92 million (Musician, Canada)
7. Howard Stern, $90 million (Personality, U.S.)
8. Coldplay, $88 million (Musicians, U.K.)
9. James Patterson, $87 million (Author, U.S.)
10. LeBron James, $86 million (Athlete, U.S.)
11. Guns N’ Roses, $84 million (Musicians, U.S.)
11. Rush Limbaugh, $84 million (Personality, U.S.)
13. Justin Bieber, $83.5 million (Musician, Canada)
14. Lionel Messi, $80 million (Athlete, Argentina)
15. Dr. Phil McGraw, $79 million (Personality, U.S.)
16. Ellen DeGeneres, $77 million (Personality, U.S.)
17. Bruce Springsteen, $75 million (Musician, U.S.)
18. Adele, $69 million (Musician, U.K.)
18. Jerry Seinfeld, $69 million (Comedian, U.S.)
20. Mark Wahlberg, $68 million (Actor, U.S.)
21. Metallica, $66.5 million (Musicians, U.S.)
22. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, $65 million (Actor, U.S.)
23. Roger Federer, $64 million (Athlete, Switzerland)
24. David Copperfield, $61.5 million (Magician, U.S.)
25. Kevin Durant, $60.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
26. Garth Brooks, $60 million (Musician, U.S.)
26. Elton John, $60 million (Musician, U.K.)
26. Gordon Ramsay, $60 million (Personality, U.K.)
29. Ryan Seacrest, $58 million (Personality, U.S.)
30. Chris Rock, $57 million (Comedian, U.S.)
31. Vin Diesel, $54.5 million (Actor, U.S.)
32. Paul McCartney, $54 million (Musician, U.K.)
32. Red Hot Chili Peppers, $54 million (Musicians, U.S.)
34. Louis C.K., $52 million (Comedian, U.S.)
35. Jimmy Buffett, $50.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
35. Adam Sandler, $50.5 million (Actor, U.S.)
37. Andrew Luck, $50 million (Athlete, U.S.)
37. Rory McIlroy, $50 million (Athlete, U.S.)
39. Jackie Chan, $49 million (Actor, China)
40. Calvin Harris, $48.5 million (Musician, U.K.)
41. Robert Downey, Jr., $48 million (Actor, U.S.)
42. Steph Curry, $47.3 million (Athlete U.S.)
43. Dave Chappelle, $47 million (Comedian, U.S.)
43. Judy Sheindlin, $47 million (Personality, U.S.)
45. James Harden, $46.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
46. Lewis Hamilton, $46 million (Athlete, U.K.)
47. Kim Kardashian West, $45.5 million (Personality, U.S.)
48. Drew Brees, $45.3 million (Athlete, U.S.)
49. Taylor Swift, $44 million (Musician, U.S.)
50. Simon Cowell, $43.5 million (Personality, U.K.)
50. Phil Mickelson, $43.5 million (Athlete, U.S.)
52. Tom Cruise, $43 million (Actor, U.S.)
53. Kenny Chesney, $42.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
54. Steve Harvey, $42.5 million (Personality, U.S.)
55. Luke Bryan, $42 million (Musician, U.S.)
56. Celine Dion, $42 million (Musician, Canada)
57. Jay Z, $42 million (Musician, U.S.)
58. Sofia Vergara, $41 million (Actor, Colombia)
59. Kylie Jenner, $41 million (Personality, U.S.)
60. Bruno Mars, $39 million (Musician, U.S.)
60. Tiësto, $39 million (Musician, Netherlands)
62. Russell Westbrook, $38.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
63. Sebastian Vettel, $38.5 million (Athlete, Germany)
64. Damian Lillard, $38.4 million (Athlete, U.S.)
65. Shah Rukh Khan, $38 million (Actor, India)
65. Jennifer Lopez, $38 million (Musician, U.S.)
65. The Chainsmokers, $38 million (Musician, U.S.)
68. Novak Djokovic, $37.6 million (Athlete, Serbia)
69. Amy Schumer, $37.5 million (Comedian, U.S.)
70. Tiger Woods, $37.1 million (Athlete, U.S.)
71. Salman Khan, $37 million (Actor, India)
72. Neymar, $37 million (Athlete, Brazil)
73. Bill O’Reilly, $37 million (Personality, U.S.)
74. Dolly Parton, $37 million (Musician, U.S.)
75. Ed Sheeran, $37 million (Musician, U.K.)
76. Dwayne Wade, $36.2 million (Athlete, U.S.)
77. Fernando Alonso, $36 million (Athlete, Spain)
78. Sean Hannity, $36 million (Personality, U.S.)
79. Rihanna, $36 million (Musician, Barbados)
80. Bon Jovi, $35.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
81. Akshay Kumar, $35.5 million (Actor, India)
82. Billy Joel, $35 million (Musician, U.S.)
83. Dr. Dre, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
84. Florida Georgia Line, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
85. Toby Keith, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
86. Jordan Spieth, $34.5 million (Athlete, U.S.)
87. Derrick Rose, $34.2 million (Athlete, U.S.)
88. Usain Bolt, $34.2 million (Athlete, Jamaica)
89. Gareth Bale, $34 million (Athlete, U.K.)
90. Conor McGregor, $34 million (Athlete, Ireland)
91. Britney Spears, $34 million (Musician, U.S.)
92. Kei Nishikori, $33.9 million (Athlete, Japan)
93. Fletcher Cox, $33.4 million (Athlete, U.S.)
94. Clayton Kershaw, $33.4 million (Athlete, U.S.)
95. Chance The Rapper, $33 million (Musician, U.S.)
96. Katy Perry, $33 million (Musician, U.S.)
97. Carmelo Anthony, $32.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
98. Jason Aldean, $32.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
99. Kevin Hart, $32.5 million (Comedian, U.S.)
100. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, $32 million (Athlete, U.S.)
