Highest Paid Celebrities 2020, Forbes Ranking

Despite the global economic uncertainty fueled by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, it's too early for most of Forbes' list of the world's highest paid celebrities for 2020 to complain about life.

Overall, the ranking participants earned $ 6.1 billion in a year before taxes and duties, which is $ 200 million less than in 2019. Want to know which star earned the most?

10. Dwayne Johnson

Source of wealth: entertainment industry

Income: $ 87.5 million

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson became the world's highest paid actor in 2020. Last year and this year have been very fruitful for him, and in the wake of the success of "Hobbs and Shaw" Johnson is already planning a sequel with charismatic characters loved by the audience.

He is also involved in the filming of the comedy action movie Red Notice, in which he co-stars Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, Wonder Woman. The movie from the Netflix streaming service is due out in November 2020.

9. LeBron James

Source of wealth: sport

Income: $ 88.2 million

NBA superstar King James has a 4-year contract with the LA Lakers for $ 154 million.

But it is not basketball alone that grows LeBron's bank account. He owns the SpringHill Entertainment production company, a sports agency, and a minority stake in Liverpool. In addition, he has successfully invested in the pizza chain Blaze Pizza and has a lifetime contract with Nike for an unknown amount. According to unofficial information, it exceeds $ 1 billion.

8. Howard Stern

Source of wealth: radio

Income: $ 90 million

The highest paid radio host in the world started his career on $ 4 an hour. And already in 2006, Forbes placed him in 7th place in the top ten most popular celebrities. Stern is known for his scandalous antics on the air. For example, during an interview with porn star Rebecca Lord, he accused the Catholic Church of molesting boys.

Howard himself claims that in his radio broadcasts he simply says what ordinary people do in real life, for example, at the bar.

In 2015, the New York Times reported that Stern had renewed his contract with SiriusXM for another five years. At the time, his current contract was worth $ 80 million.

7. Neymar

Source of wealth: sport

Income: $ 95.5 million

Neymar is currently fulfilling his five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain football club. His move to PSG for $ 263 million was the most expensive transfer in the history of football.

But this year, Neymar's wallet will be slightly empty. He will pay Barcelona 6.7 million euros, although he himself wanted 43.6 million euros from him as a bonus for the extension of the contract. Recall that in 2016 the footballer extended his contract with Barça until 2021, and then in 2017 bought it out, giving 222 million euros in compensation, and left for PSG. It is still unknown whether Neymar will appeal the court decision.

6. Tyler Perry

Source of wealth: entertainment industry

Income: $ 97 million

According to Forbes, one of the richest and most famous people in the world will be remembered by the audience as a strong African-American Madea from the films "Madea's Halloween", "Madea at the Funeral", etc.

But he recently made the headlines for a different reason, when it was revealed that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were living in his $ 18 million mega-mansion in Los Angeles while they were looking for a permanent home.

Together with them, Megan's mother lives in a luxurious home with eight bedrooms and a magnificent garden, who looks after Archie's one-year-old grandson. Renting Perry's mansion costs, according to various estimates, from 20 to 40 thousand dollars a month.

5. Lionel Messi

Source of wealth: sport

Income: $ 104 million

Lionel Messi is one of the most famous and popular athletes in the world. According to Forbes experts, his current contract with Barcelona is worth more than $ 80 million a year.

Messi also has numerous advertising contracts with Adidas, Pepsi, Gillette, EA Sports and others. Each of these agreements is valued at $ 10-20 million a year, depending on the generosity of the brand.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo

Source of wealth: sport

Income: $ 105 million

Back in 2018, the famous footballer signed an agreement with Juventus, which was worth over $ 100 million. He also has numerous advertising deals with companies such as Tag Heuer, Clear Haircare, and Nike.

According to the Spanish edition of Marca, if there ever was an ideal footballer, he would have the character of Cristiano Ronaldo. As well as:

• Lionel Messi's left leg,
• Kylian Mbappe's right leg,
• the ability to play the head of Carlos Santillana,
• Ronaldo's strength,
• Jamie Vardy's speed,
• Gary Lineker's scoring flair,
• ability to adapt to Gerd Müller's play
• and the grace of Marco van Basten.

3. Roger Federer

Source of wealth: sport

Income: $ 106.3 million

Roger Federer is one of the most iconic tennis players of all time and currently the highest paid athlete in the world.

The lion's share of the income ($ 100 million) of the Swiss tennis star in 2020 came from Lindt chocolates, Rolex watches, Mercedes-Benz cars and other advertising. And "only" $ 6.3 million was in prize money.

2. Kanye West

Source of wealth: retail

Income: $ 170 million

Although Kanye West first rose to fame as a rapper, much of his fortune actually comes from the sales of Yeezy sneakers created in partnership with Adidas.

Sales of the Yeezy brand in 2019 were $ 1.3 billion, and West's net worth was about $ 1.3 billion, according to Forbes.

In 2019, Bank of America valued Yeezy at $ 3 billion.

1. Kylie Jenner

Source of wealth: cosmetics

Income: $ 590 million

Between June 2019 and May 2020, the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan earned over half a billion dollars. This was made possible by the sale of 51% of the Kylie Cosmetics brand to the cosmetic conglomerate Coty.

And while Forbes stripped Kylie of her billionaire status, claiming that she had exaggerated the profitability and size of her company for years, the Coty deal was not a fake.

A Forbes report says filings released by Coty in the past six months show Jenner's business is significantly smaller and less profitable than she claimed. What's more, the report claimed that Jenner and her mother sent Forbes a fake 2016 tax return to exaggerate the sales of Kylie Cosmetics.

After the publication of this story, representatives of Kylie and Kris Jenner sent a letter to Forbes, in which, in particular, they wrote: “Accusations that Jenners and / or their accountants falsified tax returns and then lied about their income for 2016 and four years, absolutely false. "

Despite her controversial status as a billionaire, Jenner is one of the most successful young stars in the world.She created a cosmetics empire, starred with her family on the reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," as well as her own spin-off show, "Kylie's Life", opened a clothing line with her sister, and made millions by promoting products in Instagram.

Forbes has recognized the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as the recent civil unrest following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbury and Breona Taylor, on the 2020 richest celebrity ranking. Forbes noted that the pandemic has closed stadiums, delayed movie theater openings, and canceled sporting events and concerts in the past few months. And all this greatly influenced the income of many artists and athletes.