The Forbes Top 40 was an annual list of 40 highest-paid entertainers compiled and published by Forbes magazine from 1987 until 1998. The following year, 1999, it was recreated as the Forbes Celebrity 100. The list was published every September, compiled by using the income of performers over two years to overcome the year-to-year of a performer's income.
Forbes representatives said that those individual are "more than entertainers, they are businesses", declaring: "Not only do they create wealth for the entertainment industry and their business sponsors, they create wealth for the nation in exportable merchandize in the form of TV programming, motion pictures, and videocassette and music recordings".
Forbes Top 40 lists Below is the top 10 for each year since the list's inception.
1980s + 1987 No. Recipient Career 1 Bill Cosby Television personality 2 Sylvester Stallone Actor 3 Bruce Springsteen Musician 4 Charles Schulz Cartoonist 5 Eddie Murphy Actor 6 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 7 Madonna Musician 8 Whitney Houston Musician 9 Michael Jackson Musician 10 Johnny Carson Television personality
+ 1988 No. Recipient Career 1 Michael Jackson Musician 2 Bill Cosby Television personality 3 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 4 Sylvester Stallone Actor 5 Eddie Murphy Actor 6 Charles Schulz Cartoonist 7 Bruce Springsteen Musician 8 Mike Tyson Sportsperson (Boxing) 9 Madonna Musician 10 Arnold Schwarzenegger Actor
+ 1989 No. Recipient Career 1 Michael Jackson Musician 2 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 3 Bill Cosby Television personality 4 Mike Tyson Sportsperson (Boxer) 5 Charles Schulz Cartoonist 6 Eddie Murphy Actor 7 Pink Floyd Musicians 8 The Rolling Stones Musicians 9 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 10 George Michael Musician
1990s + 1990 No. Recipient Career 1 Bill Cosby Television personality 2 Michael Jackson Musician 3 The Rolling Stones Musicians 4 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 5 New Kids on the Block Musicians 6 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 7 Sylvester Stallone Actor 8 Madonna Musician 9 Arnold Schwarzenegger Actor 10 Charles Schulz Cartoonist
+ 1991 No. Recipient Career 1 New Kids on the Block Musician 2 Bill Cosby Television personality 3 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 4 Madonna Musician 5 Michael Jackson Musician 6 Kevin Costner Actor 7 Johnny Carson Television personality 8 The Rolling Stones Musicians 9 Charles Schulz Cartoonist 10 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker
+ 1992 No. Recipient Career 1 Bill Cosby Television personality 2 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 3 Kevin Costner Actor 4 New Kids on the Block Musicians 5 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 6 Michael Jackson Musician 7 Charles Schulz Cartoonist 8 Madonna Musician 9 Julio Iglesias Musician 10 Guns N' Roses Musicians
+ 1993 No. Recipient Career 1 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 2 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 3 Bill Cosby Television personality 4 Guns N' Roses Musicians 5 Prince Musician 6 Charles Schulz Cartoonist 7 Kevin Costner Actor 8 U2 Musicians 9 Garth Brooks Musician 10 David Copperfield Illusionist
+ 1994 No. Recipient Career 1 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 2 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 3 Sheryl Leach Television personality 4 Pink Floyd Musicians 5 Bill Cosby Television personality 6 Barbra Streisand Musician 7 Eagles Musicians 8 David Copperfield Illusionist 9 The Rolling Stones Musicians 10 Harrison Ford Actor
+ 1995 No. Recipient Career 1 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 2 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 3 The Beatles Musicians 4 The Rolling Stones Musicians 5 Eagles Musicians 6 David Copperfield Illusionist 7 Pink Floyd Musicians 8 Michael Jackson Musician 9 Barbra Streisand Musician 10 Sylvester Stallone Actor
+ 1996 No. Recipient Career 1 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 2 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 3 The Beatles Musicians 4 Michael Jackson Musician 5 The Rolling Stones Musicians 6 Eagles Musicians 7 Arnold Schwarzenegger Actor 8 David Copperfield Illusionist 9 Jim Carrey Actor 10 Michael Crichton Filmmaker
+ 1997 No. Recipient Career 1 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 2 George Lucas Filmmaker 3 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 4 Michael Crichton Filmmaker 5 The Beatles Musicians 6 Jerry Seinfeld Television personality 7 David Copperfield Illusionist 8 Stephen King Author 9 Tom Cruise Actor 10 Arnold Schwarzenegger Actor
+ 1998 No. Recipient Career 1 Jerry Seinfeld Television personality 2 Larry David Television personality 3 Steven Spielberg Filmmaker 4 Oprah Winfrey Television personality 5 James Cameron Filmmaker 6 Tim Allen Actor 7 Michael Crichton Filmmaker 8 Harrison Ford Actor 9 The Rolling Stones Musicians 10 Master P Musician
Statistics + Most entries by entertainer at the top 10 Entries Individual Country of origin Main profession12Steven SpielbergUnited StatesFilmmaker10Oprah WinfreyTelevision personality8Michael JacksonMusicianBill CosbyTelevision personality7The Rolling StonesUnited KingdomMusiciansCharles SchulzUnited StatesCartoonist5MadonnaMusicianDavid CopperfieldIllusionist
Forbes reports and summarize Forbes 20th-century lists were predominantly dominated by male figures. In 1996 alone, only four female celebrities made appearances on the list (Oprah Winfrey ranked 1, Roseanne Barr at 25, Mariah Carey at 33, and Sandra Bullock at 40). Winfrey, however, often appeared even above many individuals regardless of gender, which has been maintained with the inception of Forbes Celebrity 100 in 1999. Various musicians often dominated the list, although high ranks were not usually attained by female artists. Like Winfrey, Madonna was an almost premier exception.
On the other hand, lists were dominated by American personalities rather than foreigners. The Beatles attained the highest ranked for non-Americans. According to Forbes, after list' 11th anniversary, Steven Spielberg and Bill Cosby were the individuals with the most appearances at the top, with three each.
See also Forbes Celebrity 100 (1999–2020) Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 Forbes list of highest-earning musicians
References