Every year, Forbes Magazine puts out their list of the highest-paid celebrities. Earlier this week, they released a new list, The list is comprised of pre-tax earnings from June 1st, 2017 through June 1st, 2018 and are calculated before the stars pay their managers, lawyers, and agents.
The highest paid celebrity this year was Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather didn't even make last year's list, but thanks to last August's fight against Conor McGregor, he banked a nice $275 million and sits atop this year's list. Conor McGregor was 12th with $99 million.
George Clooney came in second. He owned a tequila company with Rande Gerber (Cindy Crawford's husband) and Mike Meldman. They sold that company for $700 million. George's take of the sale and any other money he made earned him $239 million.
Kylie Jenner was number three with earnings of $166.5 million. She is the sole owner of Kylie cosmetics, which has also given her a net worth of $900 million. Kylie is the richest member of the Jenner-Kardashian clan... all this, and she's only 20...
Fourth place went to Judy Sheindlin. Sheindlin earns about $47 million a year from hosting "Judge Judy," but in 2017, she sold the rights to her extensive library for around $100 million, which catapulted her to $147 million in earnings last year.
At number five, it's Dwayne Johnson. Johnson tallied the highest ever take-home from an actor in the history of Forbes' list due to both his huge paycheck as an actor and the cuts he gets of the profits once his movies are released. The actor formerly known as The Rock pulled down a nice $124 million on this year's list.
Rounding out the top 5 were bands U2 in 6th with $118 million and Coldplay in 7th at $115.5 million, soccer star Lionel Messi was 8th with $111 million, pop star Ed Sheeran at 9th with $110 million, and another soccer star, Cristiano Ronaldo at 10th with $108 million.
Taylor Swift was 21st at $80 million. Her album "Reputation" sold two million copies in the first week, merchandise sales added to her take, and she has well-paying endorsement deals with Keds, Diet Coke, and Apple. Her 1989 tour, which was three years ago, grossed a quarter of a billion dollars, and experts say that her current tour could top that when all is said and done. Her net worth is $320 million.
Luke Bryan had a good year. Checking in on Forbes' list at #45, Luke brought in a nice $52 million. This can all be attributed to an 84 city tour, which grossed seven figures nightly. Luke also banked a reported $7 million for his role on American Idol, plus he made money from music, songwriting, merchandise, and endorsements.
At #59 was Garth Brooks. Garth made $45.5 million due to his tour, which wrapped up after 3 years and sold more than six million tickets.
The final Country artist to make the top 100 was Kenny Chesney at #87. Banking $37 million, Kenny's earnings can be attributed to his tour, his music, his merchandise, and his endorsements for Corona and Blue Chair Bay Rum, which he owns (and is delicious!).
See the full Forbes list by clicking here.