Unlike other Forbes lists, the celebrity 100 measures the fame of celebrities along with their earnings. This means that the list also takes into consideration the celebrity’s media presence on print, TV and Internet dominance.
All of this combined then shows how critical American consumers view the celebrity, which then reveals their overall power in the industry.
For this years list women seem to be leading the pack of the most powerful celebrities with only a few men managing to crack into the top ten.
We look at the celebrities on the top five of the list:
1. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah makes her fifth appearance on the list despite her company OWNs previous struggles. Winfrey managed to rack up an estimated R775-m ($77-m) between June 2012 and June 2013, a drop from her last year R1.7bn ($165-m) earnings. While she may not have been the highest earner, her fortune combined with her media and social networking power earned her the number one spot.
2. Lady Gaga
Pop princess, Lady Gaga, racked up an impressive R805-m ($80m) and still maintains media and social network dominance. Gaga has a staggering over 38-m followers on Twitter and a record breaking 57-m likes on Facebook.
3. Steven Spielberg
Oscar award-winning director, Steven Spielberg, is one of the few men in the top ten. The director moved seven spots up from last year with earnings estimated at R1.1bn ($100-m). Spielberg made most of his fortune from his two-time Oscar-winning movie Lincoln that made an impressive R2.8bn ($275-m).
4. Beyonce Knowles
Beyonce, a successful musician, actress and entrepreneur occupies the fourth spot. The new mother made R21-m ($2-m) respectively from each city she played in for her Mrs. Carter tour. Her new deals with Pepsi and H&M, her clothing line House of Dereon and royalties also contributed to her R534-m ($53-m) earnings.
5. Madonna
Pop-icon Madonna, made a comeback on the list with her R1.3bn ($125-m) earnings. Despite her last album MDNAs low sales, her world tour was able to make a staggering R3.5-bn ($305-m). Also included in her earnings is merchandise from her MDNA tour, her Material Girl clothing label, and her fragrance Dare and other investments.
The rest of the top ten list includes:
6. Taylor Swift R554-m ($55-m)
7. Bon Jovi R755-m ($79-m)
8. Roger Federer R715-m ($71-m)
9. Justin Bieber R584-m ($58-m)
10. Ellen DeGeneres R564-m ($56-m)
Sources: Forbes and Destiny Man
