Boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao finally faced off in the ring earlier this year and the anticipation for the fight lead to huge paydays for both. They topped Forbes Magazine’s 2015 Celebrity 100 list, knocking Katy Perry to the third spot. Beyonce, last year’s topper, didn’t even make the Top 10.
Mayweather, who won the fight, earned $300 million. Pacquiao took in $160 million in the past 12 months, Forbes said.
Beyond the top two slots though, musicians dominated the list thanks to their tours. Perry came in third, earning $135 million from her Prismatic World Tour, which took her to 27 different countries. Her managers told Forbes that 60 percent of her income is now coming from foreign markets. Perry’s international success even helped her land the cover of the Celebrity 100 issue.
One Direction, who also toured, earned $130 million. That’s twice as much as the Rolling Stones in the same time period.
The top-ranking movie star, Avengers: Age of Ultron’s Robert Downey Jr., came in at No. 8 with $80 million. But he tied with Taylor Swift, who saw her bank account rise as 1989 hit stores and she began her tour.
There were only two actresses on the list - Jennifer Lawrence ($52 million) at No. 34 and Scarlett Johansson ($35.5 million) at No. 65. However, there were 14 actors, including Downey, Bradley Cooper ($41.5 million), Tom Cruise ($40 million), Vin Diesel ($47 million) and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson ($31.5 million).
Jim Parsons ($29 million) was the only TV actor listed, while his Big Bang Theory co-star Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting ($28.5 million) and Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara ($28.5 million) were the only TV actresses to make the list.
Beyonce, who topped the list last year, fell to No. 29 with $54.5 million.
Here’s the Top 10:
Floyd Mayweather Jr. ($300 million)
Manny Pacquiao ($160 million)
Katy Perry ($135 million)
One Direction ($130 million)
Howard Stern ($95 million)
Garth Brooks ($90 million)
James Patterson ($89 million)
Robert Downey Jr. ($80 million)
Taylor Swift ($80 million)
Cristiano Ronaldo ($79.5 million)
image courtesy of INFphoto.com