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Shah Rukh Khan & Akshay Kumar Among Forbes’ 100 Highest-Paid Celebs
Forbes Magazine has released its illustrious list of the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities of 2016. The list spans a vast cross-section of the entertainment world, including Hollywood, Bollywood and sports stars.
Music megastar Taylor Swift took the top honours, raking in a whopping $170 million US over the past year, thanks largely to her sold-out 1989 tour as well as deals with huge brands including Apple, Diet Coke and Keds.
Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar represented Bollywood star power on the list. King Khan came in at eighty-sixth with earnings of $33 million U.S., thanks in part to his acting fees ranging in the millions plus a cut of each of his films' box office takings. Forbes reports that Khan also has other revenue streams, like lucrative endorsement deals with dozens of brands that buffer his bank account.
Akshay Kumar dropped to ninety-fourth place this year from seventy-sixth in 2015, but he still took home a very healthy $31.5 million U.S. Along with three hit films in the past year, Kumar also raked in the cash with endorsements and promotion deals.
Many of the usual suspects — including comedian Kevin Hart, media mogul Kim Kardashian and actress Jennifer Lawrence — also feature on the list, but one-third of this year’s honorees are from outside the United States. Among them, British boy band One Direction came in second, Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Rolando ranked fourth, British songstress Adele made it to ninth place, Chinese actor Jackie Chan came in at twenty-first place and South Korean K-pop band Bigbang took the fifty-fourth spot.
While the list is geographically diverse, Forbes notes that it highlights the ongoing and shameful pay gap in the entertainment world. A mere 15 women made it to the list this year, down from an equally meagre 16 last year.
As per Forbes’ numbers, the world’s 100 highest-paid celebs collectively earned $5.1 billion U.S., pretax, between June 2015 and June 2016, which is more than the GDPs of Belize, Gambia and Bhutan combined. Considering that even one of the lowest earners, Britney Spears, took in a comfortable $30.5 million U.S., it's no surprise that these mega-earners surpass entire countries!
Main Image Photo Credits: www.taylorswift.com; Shahrukh Khan Official Facebook Page, Akshay Kumar Official Facebook Page
Dilshad Burman
Author
Dilshad Burman is an award winning TV host and Canadian media personality. Born in Mumbai, India, she was surrounded by its creative energy and grew up with a passion for music, film and television. While completing her Bachelor of Arts in English literature from The University of Mumbai, she i...
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