Peter Jackson
Foto: Getty Images, Hagen Hopkins. All rights reserved.
The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson earned an estimated $580 million last year. Jackson leads the list of the highest paid entertainers, which also includes Bruce Springsteen, Dwayne Johnson and Kanye West.
According to Forbes magazine, most of the income comes from the sale of Jackson’s visual effects company. Jackson may have earned $600 million in cash and $375 million in stock from the sale. This makes him the third person, after Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, to become a billionaire through filmmaking alone.
Hardly any women among the top earners
The top 10 highest paid entertainers is all male, and even in the top 20 there are only three women. The musicians Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen made it into the top 10 mainly through the lucrative sales of their catalogues. Bruce Springsteen was even able to secure second place after selling his entire music to Sony Music for around 500 million US dollars had sold.
The inventors of the “Southpark” series find themselves in 6th place. The two recently struck a multi-movie deal with Paramount that could gross up to $900 million. Also in the top 10 are rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z, who even took 3rd place, as well as actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Highest-paid entertainer only in 12th place
Reese Witherspoon is the highest-paid entertainer at number 12. She made $125 million last year from the sale of her production company, Hello Sunshine.
According to “Forbes”, the number of musicians who ended up in the list through the sale of the rights to their music is striking this year. In addition to the above, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who ended up in 11th place after selling their author rights, or Mötley Crüe, who were able to pocket 72 million US dollars and 22nd place for their catalogue.
“There’s never been a better time to sell yourself — especially when you’re a superstar who owns the rights to decades of hits,” wrote Forbes magazine’s Lisette Voytko.