The superstars who topped Forbes’ latest ranking of the world’s highest-paid celebrities aren’t movie stars or musicians.
They’re boxers.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao came in No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on Forbes’ “Celebrity 100” list, which was published online today.
“The first truly global ranking of the highest-paid entertainers on the planet,” as Forbes describes the list, is based on how much the rich and famous earned over the past 12 months.
For Mayweather, that was $300 million. Most of that total came from his May 2 match against Pacquiao, who earned $160 million for the year, Forbes reports.
The professional boxing match in Las Vegas brought in 4.4 million purchases via pay-per-view and, as CBS MoneyWatch recently reported, helped ring up more than $1 billion for Nevada casinos during the month of May. Casino winnings haven’t topped $1 billion since December 2013.
The boxers are followed on Forbes’ list by pop singer Katy Perry and pop boy band One Direction.
The top 10 top-earning celebrities are:
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. (boxer), age 38, $300 million
- Manny Pacquiao (boxer), 36, $160 million
- Katy Perry (singer), 30, $135 million
- One Direction (pop group), $130 million
- Howard Stern (radio personality), 61, $95 million
- Garth Brooks (country singer), 53, $90 million
- James Patterson (author), 68, $89 million
- Robert Downey Jr. (actor), 50, $80 million
- Taylor Swift (pop singer), 25, $80 million
- Cristiano Ronaldo (professional soccer player), 30, $79.5 million
Click here to view Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list in full.
Forbes also broke down the list by youngest to oldest, and other categories including comedians and “personalities.”
The youngest of the highest-paid was 23-year-old Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, known to fans as “Neymar” or “Neymar Jr.,” a Brazilian professional soccer player. Neymar earned $31 million over the past year, placing him at No. 82 among the Celebrity 100.
The oldest of the highest-paid was music legend Paul McCartney, 73, the former Beatle turned solo musician, who made $51.5 million over the past year. That earned him spot No. 35 on the list.
Are you surprised by which names or which types of celebrities topped the list? Sound off in a comment below or on our Facebook page.
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