The World's Highest-Paid Celebrities 2017
It's a good year to be famous. Over the past 12 months, the world's 100 highest-paid celebrities pulled in $5.15 billion--more than the combined GDP of Belize, Liberia and Gambia--led by Diddy, who clocked a career-best $130 million. Beyoncé and J.K. Rowling round out the top three with $105 million and $95 million, respectively.
Though Diddy's payday mostly came from the sale of a large chunk of Sean John clothing equity and his ongoing partnership with Diageo's Ciroc vodka, many of the names on our list are profiting from the emergence of the new entertainment economy. From Spotify to Netflix, streaming platforms are directly enriching stars in a manner that once seemed a distant dream--and indirectly fueling lucrative live shows for the likes of The Weeknd, who appears on the cover of this year's Celebrity 100 issue.
"We live in a world where artists don't really make the money off the music like we did in the Golden Age," he tells FORBES. "It's not really coming in until you hit the stage."
Rank, Name, Earnings (Category, Country)
Diddy, $130 million (Musician, U.S.)
Beyoncé, $105 million (Musician, U.S.)
J.K. Rowling, $95 million (Author, U.K.)
Drake, $94 million (Musician, Canada)
Cristiano Ronaldo, $93 million (Athlete, Portugal)
The Weeknd, $92 million (Musician, Canada)
Howard Stern, $90 million (Personality, U.S.)
Coldplay, $88 million (Musicians, U.K.)
James Patterson, $87 million (Author, U.S.)
LeBron James, $86 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Guns N' Roses, $84 million (Musicians, U.S.)
Rush Limbaugh, $84 million (Personality, U.S.)
Justin Bieber, $83.5 million (Musician, Canada)
Lionel Messi, $80 million (Athlete, Argentina)
Dr. Phil McGraw, $79 million (Personality, U.S.)
Ellen DeGeneres, $77 million (Personality, U.S.)
Bruce Springsteen, $75 million (Musician, U.S.)
Adele, $69 million (Musician, U.K.)
Jerry Seinfeld, $69 million (Comedian, U.S.)
Mark Wahlberg, $68 million (Actor, U.S.)
Metallica, $66.5 million (Musicians, U.S.)
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, $65 million (Actor, U.S.)
Roger Federer, $64 million (Athlete, Switzerland)
David Copperfield, $61.5 million (Magician, U.S.)
Kevin Durant, $60.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Garth Brooks, $60 million (Musician, U.S.)
Elton John, $60 million (Musician, U.K.)
Gordon Ramsay, $60 million (Personality, U.K.)
Ryan Seacrest, $58 million (Personality, U.S.)
Chris Rock, $57 million (Comedian, U.S.)
Vin Diesel, $54.5 million (Actor, U.S.)
Paul McCartney, $54 million (Musician, U.K.)
Red Hot Chili Peppers, $54 million (Musicians, U.S.)
Louis C.K., $52 million (Comedian, U.S.)
Jimmy Buffett, $50.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
Adam Sandler, $50.5 million (Actor, U.S.)
Andrew Luck, $50 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Rory McIlroy, $50 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Jackie Chan, $49 million (Actor, China)
Calvin Harris, $48.5 million (Musician, U.K.)
Robert Downey, Jr., $48 million (Actor, U.S.)
Steph Curry, $47.3 million (Athlete U.S.)
Dave Chappelle, $47 million (Comedian, U.S.)
Judy Sheindlin, $47 million (Personality, U.S.)
James Harden, $46.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Lewis Hamilton, $46 million (Athlete, U.K.)
Kim Kardashian West, $45.5 million (Personality, U.S.)
Drew Brees, $45.3 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Taylor Swift, $44 million (Musician, U.S.)
Simon Cowell, $43.5 million (Personality, U.K.)
Phil Mickelson, $43.5 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Tom Cruise, $43 million (Actor, U.S.)
Kenny Chesney, $42.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
Steve Harvey, $42.5 million (Personality, U.S.)
Luke Bryan, $42 million (Musician, U.S.)
Celine Dion, $42 million (Musician, Canada)
Jay Z, $42 million (Musician, U.S.)
Sofia Vergara, $41 million (Actor, Colombia)
Kylie Jenner, $41 million (Personality, U.S.)
Bruno Mars, $39 million (Musician, U.S.)
Tiësto, $39 million (Musician, Netherlands)
Russell Westbrook, $38.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Sebastian Vettel, $38.5 million (Athlete, Germany)
Damian Lillard, $38.4 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Shah Rukh Khan, $38 million (Actor, India)
Jennifer Lopez, $38 million (Musician, U.S.)
The Chainsmokers, $38 million (Musician, U.S.)
Novak Djokovic, $37.6 million (Athlete, Serbia)
Amy Schumer, $37.5 million (Comedian, U.S.)
Tiger Woods, $37.1 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Salman Khan, $37 million (Actor, India)
Neymar, $37 million (Athlete, Brazil)
Bill O’Reilly, $37 million (Personality, U.S.)
Dolly Parton, $37 million (Musician, U.S.)
Ed Sheeran, $37 million (Musician, U.K.)
Dwayne Wade, $36.2 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Fernando Alonso, $36 million (Athlete, Spain)
Sean Hannity, $36 million (Personality, U.S.)
Rihanna, $36 million (Musician, Barbados)
Bon Jovi, $35.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
Akshay Kumar, $35.5 million (Actor, India)
Billy Joel, $35 million (Musician, U.S.)
Dr. Dre, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
Florida Georgia Line, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
Toby Keith, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
Jordan Spieth, $34.5 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Derrick Rose, $34.2 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Usain Bolt, $34.2 million (Athlete, Jamaica)
Gareth Bale, $34 million (Athlete, U.K.)
Conor McGregor, $34 million (Athlete, Ireland)
Britney Spears, $34 million (Musician, U.S.)
Kei Nishikori, $33.9 million (Athlete, Japan)
Fletcher Cox, $33.4 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Clayton Kershaw, $33.4 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Chance The Rapper, $33 million (Musician, U.S.)
Katy Perry, $33 million (Musician, U.S.)
Carmelo Anthony, $32.6 million (Athlete, U.S.)
Jason Aldean, $32.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
Kevin Hart, $32.5 million (Comedian, U.S.)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, $32 million (Athlete, Sweden)