The 25 Top Earning
Men in Entertainment
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Fair or not, men are bigger earners both in front of and behind the camera. In fact, the male entertainers (excluding athletes) on Forbes' annual listing of the World's Most Powerful Celebrities earned on average nearly twice as much as the list's women.
Moreover, the 25 top-earning men on the list alone raked in $1.9 billion over the course of a year, compared with the women's $671 million.
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Steven Spielberg
$332 million
The sale of DreamWorks SKG's live-action business to Paramount earned the director mega-bucks. More recently, the top-earning entertainer scored with 'Disturbia,' a thriller that garnered $22 million in its opening weekend.
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Howard Stern
$302 million
The King of Talk is doing just that -- all the way to the bank. In 2004, Sirius Satellite Radio agreed to shell out $100 million a year for his R-rated fare -- and that doesn't factor in the slew of bonuses. The trade-off: fewer listeners. He no longer lures the daily audience of 12 million he once attracted on free radio.
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Dan Brown
$88 million
Despite critical scorn, the film adaptation of his best-selling novel 'The Da Vinci Code' grossed nearly $800 million worldwide at the box office. The author's earlier work, 'Angels & Demons,' is currently in development at Sony.
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Dick Wolf
$70 million
After 17 seasons on the air, the fate of his 'Law & Order' franchise, which has spawned several spinoffs and a seemingly endless supply of reruns, is unclear. With a ratings dip plaguing both the original and its 'Criminal Intent' spinoff, NBC argues that the two programs, at their present costs, are no longer viable.
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Tom Cruise
$67 million
His high-profile marriage and couch-jumping ways may be prime tabloid fodder, but his recent career moves (or lack thereof) have given the press little to talk about. Cruise will stage his comeback later this year in the Robert Redford-directed drama 'Lions for Lambs,' co-starring Redford and Meryl Streep.
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More Top Earning Entertainers
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Who Are the Richest
Women in Entertainment?
Each of these 20 divas have a minimum net worth of $45 million. Can you guess the top five?
See 20 Richest Women in Entertainment -
(L) CBS, (R) NBC
Top Earning Talk Show Hosts
Some say talk is cheap, but not if you look at the salary of the top-earning talk show hosts. See how much Jay Leno, David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil and others make.
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The Web Celeb 25
From penniless bloggers to geek entrepreneurs, these are the biggest and brightest stars on the Web.
Pictured: YouTube star Jessica Lee Rose attracted millions of online fans last year as Lonleygirl15.
Full List: Web Celeb 25 -
Wire Imaage
Richest Celebs Under 21
What were you doing in your teens and early 20's? These youngsters are earning millions of dollars. See how much Lindsay Lohan and others are making today.
Full List: Young Hollywood's Top-Earning Stars -
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