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Ranked: Top 10 Highest-Paid Celebrities

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The Top paid celebrities in 2021

Ranked: Top 10 Highest-Paid Celebrities

It can be hard to make money in media—but for those lucky enough to make it to the big leagues, the payoff can be astronomical .

In 2021, the world’s 10 highest-paid celebrities earned a combined $2.7 billion. Who are these high-earning entertainers, and how do they make their hundreds of millions?

Using data from Forbes, this graphic by Athul Alexander highlights the top paid entertainers around the world, based on 2021 pre-tax earnings (minus business expenses such as management fees, agent costs, etc).

The Highest-Paid Celebrities in 2021

The world’s celebrities may be well known for the media they produce, but the bulk of their earnings are made through business dealings.

First on the list is New Zealand director Peter Jackson, best known for directing, producing, and writing the screenplays for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

RankNameNationality2021 pre-tax earnings
1Peter Jackson🇳🇿​ New Zealander$580 million
2Bruce Springsteen🇺🇸​ American$435 million
3Jay-Z🇺🇸​ American$340 million
4Dwanye "The Rock" Johnson🇨🇦​ 🇺🇸​ American/Canadian$270 million
5Kanye West🇺🇸​ American$235 million
6Trey Parker and Matt Stone🇺🇸​ American$210 million
7Paul Simon🇺🇸​ American$200 million
8Tyler Perry🇺🇸​ American$165 million
9Ryan Tedder🇺🇸​ American$160 million
10Bob Dylan🇺🇸​ American$130 million

In addition to creating and directing blockbuster hits, Jackson is also the founder of the VFX studio Weta Digital, which he sold a portion of last year for a whopping $1.6 billion and the bulk of his earnings.

Second on the list is singer, songwriter, and musician Bruce Springsteen, who earned an estimated $435 million in 2021. Like Jackson, Springsteen’s earnings came from a major sale, as he sold Sony Music the rights to his entire music collection in a deal worth nearly $500 million last December.

One of the only actors on the list is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who comes in fourth place with an estimated $270 million in 2021 pre-tax earnings. But only about a quarter of his earnings came from leading roles in movies like Jungle Cruise and Red Notice, with the bulk coming from his tequila brand Teremana.

Some High-Level Trends

Taking a closer look at this list reveals a few trends worth highlighting:

  • Nine out of 10 entertainers on the list are American
  • Only two actors made the list, while six are musicians
  • All of top 10 earners in 2021 were men

Hollywood’s gender pay gap has been a hot topic of conversation over the last few years. Research indicates that there’s about a one-million-dollar pay gap between male and female actors at the “superstar” level.

But the gender gap in the entertainment industry extends further than that—women aren’t just underpaid compared to their male counterparts, they’re also just underrepresented, especially in big-decision, behind-the-scenes roles, and may subsequently miss out on the business opportunities made available.

Women have made the top 10 earners in Forbes celebrity rankings in recent years, including Kylie Jenner from 2018-2020, Taylor Swift in 2019, and Judge Judy Sheindlin in 2018. But they were the only females in an upper echelon of celebrity earners composed mainly by males.

Comparing YouTubers to Traditional Celebrities

As social media and online entertainment continue to gain traction, it’s interesting to see how much social media creators are earning compared to their traditional media counterparts.

According to Forbes, the highest-paid YouTuber (Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast) earned $54 million in 2021. Notably, that would place MrBeast in the top 25 of celebrity earners, just ahead of Taylor Swift’s $52 million in 2021.

With more celebrities embracing social media to grow followings and earnings revenue, it might not be long before we see more influencers and social media creators in the list of the world’s highest-earning celebrities.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Inequality

Mapped: Minimum Wage Around the World

This infographic shows the net minimum wage across 67 countries, as of January 2023. A breakdown by U.S. state is also included.

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Mapped: Minimum Wage Around the World

The purpose of a minimum wage is to establish a baseline income level for workers in a given jurisdiction. Ideally it’s enough to cover basic needs like food and housing, but this isn’t always a guarantee.

To see how the minimum wage differs around the world, we’ve visualized data from Picodi, which includes values for 67 countries as of January 2023.

Monthly Minimum Wage, by Country

The following table includes all of the data used in this infographic.

Each value represents the monthly minimum wage a full-time worker would receive in each country. Picodi states that these figures are net of taxes and have been converted to USD.

CountryIncrease compared to Jan 2022Minimum wage as of Jan 2023 (full-time, USD)
Cyprus104.5%$854
Argentina100.0%$336
Turkey32.5%$457
Moldova27.1%$180
Latvia25.8%$555
Malaysia24.6%$289
Pakistan24.5%$111
Romania21.9%$393
Germany21.2%$1,594
Belarus18.8%$189
Lithuania18.5%$646
North Macedonia17.4%$298
Mexico17.1%$315
Chile16.9%$369
Russia16.6%$224
Kazakhstan16.4%$131
Colombia16.0%$249
Hungary15.3%$383
Netherlands14.6%$1,895
Poland14.3%$584
Belgium14.3%$1,509
Serbia14.2%$347
Estonia14.2%$704
Azerbaijan13.3%$186
Albania12.9%$265
Slovenia12.6%$896
US12.0%$1,550
Croatia11.9%$571
Uzbekistan11.4%$72
Paraguay11.4%$323
Armenia10.3%$138
Peru10.0%$233
Bosnia and Herzegovina9.9%$324
Bulgaria9.3%$315
Luxembourg9.2%$2,140
Philippines9.0%$141
Uruguay8.9%$424
Brazil8.5%$232
India8.1%$95
Indonesia7.9%$173
Greece7.8%$626
Portugal7.3%$690
UK7.2%$1,705
Slovakia6.9%$572
South Africa6.6%$226
France6.6%$1,380
Czechia6.0%$643
Vietnam5.7%$162
Ecuador5.6%$407
New Zealand5.4%$1,866
Ireland5.1%$1,753
Canada5.0%$1,545
Thailand4.8%$195
Australia4.7%$2,022
South Korea4.6%$1,333
Taiwan4.0%$800
Bolivia3.9%$284
Guatemala3.6%$383
Malta3.1%$788
Ukraine0.0%$146
Israel0.0%$1,389
Puerto Rico0.0%$1,328
Hong Kong0.0%$959
Saudi Arabia0.0%$958
Spain0.0%$925
Montenegro0.0%$459
Nigeria0.0%$68

Generally speaking, developed countries have a higher cost of living, and thus require a higher minimum wage.

Two outliers in this dataset are Argentina and Turkey, which have increased their minimum wages by 100% or more from January 2022 levels.

Turkey is suffering from an ongoing currency crisis, with the lira losing over 40% of its value in 2021. Prices of basic goods have increased considerably as the Turkish lira continues to plummet. In fact, a 2022 survey found that 70% of people in Turkey were struggling to pay for food.

Argentina, South America’s second-biggest economy, is also suffering from very high inflation. In response, the country announced three minimum wage increases throughout 2022.

Minimum Wage in the U.S.

Within the U.S., minimum wage varies significantly by state. We’ve visualized each state’s basic minimum rate (hourly) using January 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

US minimum wage

2023-03-17 Update: This map was updated to fix several incorrect values. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

America’s federal minimum wage has remained unchanged since 2009 at $7.25 per hour.

Each state is allowed to set their own minimum wage, as long as it’s higher than the federal minimum. In states that do not set their own minimum, the federal minimum applies.

If we assume someone works 40 hours a week, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 translates to an annual figure of just $15,080 before taxes. California’s minimum wage of $15.50 translates to $32,240 before taxes.

For further perspective, check out our 2022 infographic on the salary needed to buy a home across 50 U.S. cities.

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