Forbes: The Celebrity 100
(Agencies/MSNBC)
Updated: 2004-06-18 12:34

This is the age of the Insta-Celebrity.

Fame has never come so quickly and been prized so highly — yet rarely has it been so expendable and evanescent.

Last year Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were the Hollywood power couple, gracing most major media outlets and placing fifth and seventh, respectively, on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list.

Since then the two have costarred in two failed films, called off their planned wedding and dropped off our list altogether.

Almost 40 percent of the stars on last year's Celebrity 100, which evaluates the relative pay and profiles of performers in vastly different fields, didn't make the cut this go-round.

The following are top ten according to power rank

1. Mel Gibson, actor, $210million

Hollywood turned its back on his bloody Bible flick, a cross that Mel was only too happy to carry himself. With The Passion of the Christ bringing in more than $600 million at the box office, he is likely to make at least $150 million more in the next year. Mel made the top 10 in every category we measured this year: money, magazine covers, press clippings, Web presence, TV/radio hits.

2. Tiger Woods, athelete, $80million

His winless streak in golf's majors is at seven and counting, but Tiger still managed to win his fifth straight PGA Tour Player of the Year award in 2003. Despite his recent stumbles on the fairways, it's still good to be Tiger. He's the world's number one ranked player, earns $70 million a year in endorsements and is about to marry Swedish former nanny/model Elin Nordegren.

3. Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, $210million

Reigning queen of daytime television celebrated her 50th birthday earlier this year. But big birthdays barely a blip in a lifetime of accomplishments. Latest venture: O At Home, biannual magazine published with Hearst.

4. Tome Cruise, actor, $45million, ranked No.1 on Top Celebrities 2001

Still making risky business. Took no money upfront for The Last Samurai for bigger piece of the profits. Paid off: Action flick grossed more than $450 million worldwide.

5. Rolling stones, musicians, $51.3million

Stones junkies who wanted to see Mick and Keith on tour last year had to pay an average of $158 a ticket—tops among the big acts in 2003.

6. J.K. Rowling, authoress, $147million

Rowling sold 60 million books last year, riding on the release of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, the fifth installment in the boy wizard series. Her worldwide tally now stands at 250 million books sold.

7. Michael Jordan, athlete, $35million

Jordan was rebuffed in his attempts to buy the Milwaukee Bucks last year, but many think he'll make a run at buying another team. In the meantime, he'll have to make due cashing checks from Nike that total close to $25 million a year. Nike's Jordan brand generates $500 million in revenue for the footwear company.

8. Bruce Springsteen, musician, $64million

The Boss made more money on the road last year than any other concert act, grossing $116 million in the U.S. alone.

9. Steven Spielberg, director, $75million

Still minting Hollywood blockbusters with dream-team casts. This summer's The Terminal pairs fellow Celebrity 100 listers Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tom Hanks.

10. Johnny Depp, actor, $28million

Quirky actor better known for taking challenging roles in low-budget flicks struck gold playing the Keith Richards-inspired character Captain Jack Sparrow in Jerry Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean. Got paid handsomely for the upcoming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . But any Pirates sequel will earn him $20 million.

Stars like Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg consistently place at the top of the pile. But Tom Cruise, ranked number 1 in 2001, dropped off the list entirely the next year, only to return this year at number 4; his ex, Nicole Kidman, was ranked 16th in 2003 but has since vanished. Britney Spears, tops in 2002, hasn't made the list since.

Mel Gibson, propelled to the number 1 spot this year by The Passion of the Christ, is likely to fall a bit next year, though he could still rank high: He stands to reap a whole new round of prophet profits from the DVD.

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