For the third time this year, the queen of American media, Oprah Winfrey, tops the list of the rich and famous as declared by Forbes. After securing the first positions on the lists of the 20 richest women in entertainment and the annual list of the 100 most powerful, this time she has claimed a spot on the top list of the 20 richest television stars.
The media empire of the 53-year-old talk show host includes a magazine and a stake in the daily talk shows of Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachel Ray, and it is estimated that from June 2006 to June 2007, she earned 260 million dollars.
Stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld is second on the list of the richest TV stars with earnings of 60 million dollars. Besides his increasingly wealthy collection of Porsches, his wealth is growing thanks to the income from the airing of the Seinfeld series, of which he is a partial owner. In third place on Forbes’ list is Simon Cowell from Fox’s American Idol with 46 million in earnings, followed by David Letterman (40 million dollars), Donald Trump and Jay Leno (32 million dollars), Dr. Phil McGraw and Judy (Judge Judy) Sheindlin (30 million dollars), and George Lopez (26 million dollars).
Kiefer Sutherland has climbed to the tenth position among the richest television stars thanks to his role as agent Jack Bauer in the series 24. Among the 20 richest are also Regis Philbin (21 million), Tyra Banks (18 million), celebrity chef Ray (16 million), Katie Couric and Ellen DeGeneres (15 million), Ryan Seacrest (14 million), Matt Lauer (13 million), Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer (12 million), and Meredith Vieira (10 million dollars). (T.V.)
