New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar are the only two Bollywood superstars to have found a place in the Forbes’ list of world’s highest paid celebrities for the year 2016. This list is released by Forbes annually and features 100 celebrities around the globe with maximum earnings
Shah Rukh and Akshay Kumar are nestled at the in the 86th and 94th position respectively. While King Khan’s earnings amount to $33 million (Rs 221 crores approximately), that of the ‘Airlift’ actor is $31.5 million (Rs 211 crores).
This list is topped by American singer Taylor Swift with an earnings of $170 million (Rs 1141 crores approximately).
Despite SRK’s last release ‘Fan’ being a dud at box office, his earnings seem undeterred. This was noted by even Forbes which wrote that Shah Rukh Khan “continues to rule Bollywood’s box office” with lead roles in hit films and also earns multimillion 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 referring to King Khan.
Akshay Kumar for whom 2016 has been rewarding slipped from 76th position in 2015 to 94th this year. Two of his movies ‘Airlift’ and ‘Housefull 3’ already did magnificent collections at the box office and he is awaiting release of his third film ‘Rustom.’ Forbes noted that he is one of the busiest Bollywood stars.
“The action star bolsters his earnings endorsing a wider range of products than most Hollywood shills including motorcycles and gold loan company.”
English-Irish boy band One Direction has claimed the second spot on the list with earnings of $110 million (Rs 738 crores).
The list also includes author James Patterson on the 3rd spot followed by Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (4), basketball player LeBron James (11) and musician Madonna (12).
Forbes said the world’s 100 highest-paid celebrities pulled in $5.1 billion (Rs 34000 crores approximately) pretax during the June 2015-2016 scoring period.
In order 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.
One third of this year’s honorees hail from outside the US.
Forbes notes that while there is a plenty of geographical diversity on the list, the Celeb 100 underscores the chronic pay gap in the entertainment world since there are only 15 women on the list, down from 16 of last year.
The list includes British singer Adele on the number nine with $80.5 million (Rs 540 crores) earnings. Chinese actor Jackie Chan ranks 21 on the list with $61 million (Rs 409 crores approximately) earnings and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen ranks 99th on the list.
Hollywood comedian Kevin Hart ranks sixth followed by actor Dwayne Johnson on the 19th spot, reality TV show star Kim Kardashian on the 43rd spot and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence on the 50th spot.
With PTI inputs
