SRK, Akshay Kumar in Forbes list of 100 highest paid celebrities
Akshay Kumar & Shahrukh Khan
Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are the only Indian celebs to feature in the Forbes list of world’s highest paid celebrities of 2016.
The highest paid celebrity of 2016, according to the list, is American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift with an earning of $170 million. English-Irish boy band One Direction claimed the second spot with earnings of $110 million.
Shah Rukh ranks 86th on the list with earnings of $ 33 million, while Akshay comes in on the 94th spot with $ 31.5 million earnings.
Forbes mentions that the “Fan” star “continues to rule Bollywood’s box office” with lead roles in hit films and also earns multi million dollars upfront fees and a cut of the back end for his efforts. “He also cashes in on endorsement deals for dozens of brands most Americans have likely never heard of,” Forbes said.
Akshay, 48, however slipped in ranks this year from 76th in 2015, Forbes said adding that he is one of Bollywood’s busiest leading men and banked top rupee for three hit films. “The action star bolsters his earnings endorsing a wider range of products than most Hollywood shills including motorcycles and gold loan company.”
The list also includes author James Patterson on the 3rd spot followed by Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (4), basketball player LeBron James (11), musician Madonna (12), WWE star and actor Dwayne Johnson (19), actor Jackie Chan (21) and socialite Kim Kardashian (43).
According to Forbes, the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities pulled in $ 5.1 billion pretax during the June 2015-2016 scoring period. While there’s plenty of geographical diversity on the list, two thirds of the honorees are from the US. Moreover, further highlighting the pay gap in the entertainment industry, the list includes only 15 women this year, one less than last year.
According to a PTI report, to form the Celebrity 100, Forbes evaluates front-of-the-camera talent across the entire entertainment world-idols from Hollywood to Bollywood appear alongside Swedish soccer stars and American basketball players.
Inputs from PTI
