Lady Gaga Tops Newcomers on Forbes' Power List

Oprah Winfrey regains throne as top-ranked celebrity

The fame monster is filthy rich too.

Lady Gaga has topped a group of newcomers to Forbes’ list of the most powerful celebrities, raking in an estimated $62 million from tours and endorsements, while ranking first on the magazine’s list for web hits and social networking.

Despite Gaga’s outsider appeal, the singer’s fan base of so-called little monsters also boasts big business support: Virgin mobile, Polaroid, Monster and Viva Glam all sponsored the singer over the past year, according to Forbes.

Gaga still comes in No. 4 for the magazine’s overall ranking of entertainment-related earnings and media visibility – with the queen of all media, Oprah Winfrey, returning to her throne at No. 1 on the list.

Winfrey made an estimated $315 million from her media empire between June 2009 and June 2010 to inch up from No. 2 on the list, according to the magazine.

Meanwhile, last year’s Forbes 100 leader, Angelina Jolie, earned an estimated $20 million, which sunk her to No. 18 this time around.

Coming in at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots on Forbes’ overall ranking were R&B star Beyonce Knowles ($315 million) and “Avatar” director James Cameron ($210 million).

Knowles earned $87 million alone from touring, continued to profit through album sales and endorsements, and also brought in new income from the launch of her new perfume “Heat,” according to Forbes.

Cameron’s fortune, in turn, was boosted by “Avatar’s” record $2.7 billion take at the global Box Office.

Golf star Tiger Woods held on to his No. 5 spot on the list by earning an estimated $105 million for the year, down just five million from the year-ago period despite repeated hits to his brand in the wake of a sex scandal.

“While his revenue streams have diminished post-scandal … [Woods] continues to generate millions from deals with Nike, Electronic Arts, and Upper Deck,” Forbes reported.

One notable omission from the list: President Obama, whose book sales and web hits propelled him to become Forbes’ No. 49 most powerful celebrity last year.

In his place, other new deep-pocketed celebrity additions to the annual ranking included: The Black Eyed Peas ($48 million), “Twilight” stars Robert Pattinson ($17 million) and Kristen Stewart ($12 million), Pink ($44 million) and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo ($36 million).

Check out the full list here.
 

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