Actor Akshay Kumar is the only Indian to feature on Forbes 2020 list of World’s 100 Highest-Paid Celebrities. In an interesting coincidence, his rank is the same as his age, 52. Akshay’s earnings are estimated at $48.5 million. Last year Akshay Kumar was at rank 33 in Forbes list, with estimated earnings of $65 million.
Akshay Kumar Bollywood’s top-earning star: Forbes List
Forbes called Akshay “Bollywood’s top-earning star”. Mentioning how Kumar is prepping for his first television series, Amazon Prime’s The End, the magazine said, “A bankable movie star, he commands up to $13 million upfront for films like the upcoming Bachan Pandey and Bell Bottom.” They also wrote he was “one of India’s most philanthropic celebrities, he donated $4.5 million to coronavirus relief in the country.”
Akshay ranked ahead of Hollywood celebs such as Will Smith (ranked 69 with earnings of $44.5 million) and Angelina Jolie (ranked 99th with $35.5 million earnings). He is also ahead of pop stars such as Rihanna (60), Katy Perry (86), Lady Gaga (87) and Jennifer Lopez (56).
Kylie Jenner and Kanye West topped the Forbes list
Kylie Jenner and Kanye West come first and second on the list respectively. Forbes estimated that 22-year-old entrepreneur Jenner earned $590 million in the last 12 months, mostly from the sale of a 51 per cent stake in her Kylie Cosmetics line to Coty in 2019. Jenner was in the news recently when Forbes announced that after a review of her data, it did not think she was a billionaire.
West, who is married to Kim Kardashian, followed with an estimated $170 million in earnings.
Forbes said the Celebrity Top 100 earned a combined $6.1 billion before taxes and fees, a $200 million drop from 2019, after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered stadiums and sports arenas.
Tennis champion Federer took third place with an estimated $106.3 million, mostly from endorsement deals with the likes of Japanese clothing company Uniqlo and watch maker Rolex. He was followed by soccer stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.
Forbes compiled the list by estimating pre-tax earnings from June 2019-June 2020, before deducting fees for managers, based on data from Nielsen, touring trade publication Pollstar, movie database IMDB, as well as interviews with industry experts and many of the celebrities themselves.
Newcomers this year included Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda ($45.5 million) and musician Billie Eilish ($53 million), who at age 18 was the youngest of the Celebrity 100.