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Oprah Winfrey Remains the Most Powerful Celebrity
12-Jun-2008
Written by: Ivana Cheong
“Forbes” ranks various stars on income and fame.
Forbes Magazine released today its annual Celebrity 100 Power List, with Oprah Winfrey, the media queen, taking the top spot for the second year in a row.
This was perhaps because Winfrey was “continuing to influence audiences around the world through her vast media empire, which earned her $275 million during the past year,” Forbes said. It’s almost a no-brainer: the entrepreneurial mogul power now extends to her book club, the O magazine, and her syndicated talk show.
Taking the #9 spot, the creator of the Harry Potter empire, is J. K. Rowling, who beat Winfrey monetarily, according to Actress Archives, with $300 million. That, however, was not enough, because in compiling the list, Forbes considered other factors, including TV, radio, and press coverage; Google hits; and how many times they’ve graced covers of the 32 major consumer magazines.
E! Online reports that Oprah Winfrey is still looking forward to extending her media leverage, in addition to her company, Harpo Productions. She’s acquired a three-year, $55 million deal with XM Satellite Radio and a partnership with Discovery Communications to launch the Oprah Winfrey Network next year.
Following Winfrey is golf champion Tiger Woods, also for the second year, with an earning of approximately $115 million. According to Forbes editor Matthew Miller, “It’s not surprising that Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods remain at the top this year - they're certainly some of the biggest earners.”
Replacing Madonna for the #3 spot the previous year is Kung Fu Panda star Angelina Jolie. Though she only acquired a $14 million paycheck prior to the list, she’s gotten the most media coverage, partly due to her films and also her pregnancy with Brad Pitt. As quoted on Actress Archives, Miller said, “Had [Jolie] made a couple of million dollars more, she probably would have been close to topping the list because the number of magazine covers that she was on, the number of stories she was mentioned in, far surpassed anyone else on the list.”
Fourth place goes to Beyoncé Knowles, with an $80 million earning from ticket sales, and her expanding fashion, film, and publishing business empire, E! Online wrote. The #5, #6, and #7 rankings go to David Beckham, Johnny Depp and Jay-Z, respectively. Rounding out the list is the recently reunited The Police at #8 with $115 million; J. K. Rowling at #9; and Brad Pitt, at #10, who earned $20 million—more than his wife, but he hadn’t gotten as much media coverage.
E! Online states that the stars that barely missed the top 10 included Will Smith, Justin Timberlake, and Steven Spielberg. The 27 newcomers included Jon Stewart, Steve Carell, and Lauren Conrad.
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