Daily Times

Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan have again booked their place among the world’s 100 highest-paid celebs while Shah Rukh Khan — a regular on the list — failed to find a place, according to a Forbes list. This year, the world’s highest earning celebrity is American boxer Floyd Mayweather. While Akshay is ranked 76th on the Forbes list, Salman Khan is on the 82nd spot. However, actor Shah Rukh Khan – a regular on the list – failed to find a place on the list. In 2017, he ranked 65th on the list, with earnings of $38 million.

According to the list, 50-year-old Akshay Kumar earned $40.5 million this year. Describing the actor, the magazine said, “One of Bollywood’s leading men has transitioned to socially-conscious roles, such as ‘Toilet,’ a comedy supporting government campaigns to improve sanitation, and ‘Padman,’ about a guy hoping to provide inexpensive sanitary pads to rural communities. He still mints millions from backend profits and endorsing some 20 brands, including Tata and Eveready.”

For Salman, 52, Forbes said, “This Bollywood mainstay continues to produce and star in hits such as ‘Tiger Zinda Hai,’ cashing in on backend profits. Coupled with a slew of endorsements from Suzuki motorcycles to Chlormint gum, he remains one of India’s top earners.”

The list has been topped by Mayweather with earnings of $285 million with actor George Clooney ranking second. Reality TV star and businessperson Kylie Jenner is ranked third and football star Cristiano Ronaldo, pop star Katy Perry, tennis icon Roger Federer and singer Beyonce also finding a place in the list.

Forbes said the world’s 100 top-earning entertainers pulled in a combined $6.3 billion pretax over the past 12 months, up 22% from last year and 11 superstars crossed the $100 million threshold, more than double the number from the last two years combined.

Published in Daily Times, July 18^th 2018.