Rapper and business mogul, Sean Combs aka Diddy, tops Forbes 100 highest paid celebrity in 2017 by clocking a career-best of $130 million. Singer, Beyoncé came in second with $105 million while best-selling fiction author, J.K. Rowling came in third with $95 million. Beyoncé’s husband, rapper and business mogul Jay Z came in at #55. Queen of social media and business entrepreneur, Kim Kardashian came in at #47, while her younger sister Kylie Jenner came in at #59.
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 the 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.
Below is a full listing of this year’s Celebrity 100 (full coverage here), which ranks the top-earning front-of-camera entertainers in the world by pretax income from June 1, 2016 through June 1, 2017.
According to Forbes:
“Fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. Estimates are based on figures from Nielsen, NPD Bookscan, Pollstar, Box Office Mojo, Songkick, D’Marie and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders and sometime of the stars themselves”.
Rank, Name, Earnings (Category, 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.)
53. Steve Harvey, $42.5 million (Personality, U.S.)
55. Luke Bryan, $42 million (Musician, U.S.)
55. Celine Dion, $42 million (Musician, Canada)
55. 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)
71. Neymar, $37 million (Athlete, Brazil)
71. Bill O’Reilly, $37 million (Personality, U.S.)
71. Dolly Parton, $37 million (Musician, U.S.)
71. Ed Sheeran, $37 million (Musician, U.K.)
76. Dwayne Wade, $36.2 million (Athlete, U.S.)
77. Fernando Alonso, $36 million (Athlete, Spain)
77. Sean Hannity, $36 million (Personality, U.S.)
77. Rihanna, $36 million (Musician, Barbados)
80. Bon Jovi, $35.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
80. Akshay Kumar, $35.5 million (Actor, India)
82. Billy Joel, $35 million (Musician, U.S.)
83. Dr. Dre, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
83. Florida Georgia Line, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
83. Toby Keith, $34.5 million (Musician, U.S.)
83. 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.)
89. Conor McGregor, $34 million (Athlete, Ireland)
89. 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.)
95. 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.)
98. Kevin Hart, $32.5 million (Comedian, U.S.)
100. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, $32 million (Athlete, U.S.)