The multimedia maven topped Forbes' 2007 list of the 100 Most Powerful Celebrities, a status achieved not only by her nine-figure earnings but also via Internet ubiquity, press clippings, magazine covers, shout-outs on TV and radio and the other "popularity metrics" that factor into Forbes' analysis, based on the past 12 months.
Lucas, while a power player last year, is nowhere to be found on the new list, despite being one of the richest people in Hollywood with a net worth of $3.6 billion, per Forbes. Apparently he generated less buzz than Winfrey, whose yearly pay is estimated at $260 million, bringing her net worth to about $1.5 billion. The talk show host (and so much more) also had the biggest Web and TV presence, according to Forbes.
Last year's A-list He-Man, Tom Cruise, slipped from the top spot to number eight, with his overall paycheck totaling a mere $31 million. Really, after the tabloid-crazy year that was, his number of press clippings had nowhere to go but down.
Golf superstar Tiger Woods is the top-ranking athlete in the bunch and, considering he generates headlines every time he picks up a club and pulls in about $100 million a year, is sitting pretty right below Winfrey at number two on the list, despite having only the 16th-highest Web presence.
Madonna, although her pay is only a piddling $72 million these days, received the most press out of all the celebrities listed, had the second-biggest Internet showing, and came in at number three. (Ranked on her biceps alone, she would have been number one, of course.)
Rounding out the top five were the Rolling Stones, whose Bigger Bang tour was the highest-grossing musical act in North America last year (and Keith Richards helped on the press side with that malarkey about snorting his dad's ashes), and Brad Pitt, 25th on the pay scale with $35 million but ninth in press, thanks to his roles in Babel and Ocean's Thirteen and his tabloid-friendly cohabitation with Angelina Jolie (14th place).
Meanwhile, the lower-profile (in certain ways) Johnny Depp banked more booty in a single year, $92 million, than any actor in history, thanks to his stake in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and landed at number six.
Elton John earned $53 million, put out a greatest-hits album in April and celebrated his 60th birthday with a star-studded concert at Madison Square Garden—enough for seventh place; recently unretired rapper and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z makes his debut on the list at number nine; and the always-influential (and rich) Steven Spielberg, who produced Clint Eastwood's twin critical darlings, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, and is working on a fourth Indiana Jones pic closes out the top 10.
Other fresh faces this year include the cast of Grey's Anatomy, which as a whole banked $33 million and scrubbed into 12th place; boy-bander turned jack of all trades Justin Timberlake, 34th place; George Clooney, somehow not on this list before but now on it in 40th place; Harry Potter players Daniel Radcliffe, also the top-ranking child star with $15 million, and Emma Watson; Dakota Fanning, the second-biggest underage earner with $4 million; and Heroes cheerleader Hayden Panettiere, who may not be able to regenerate in real life, but is the 98th most powerful celebrity.
Gone since last year are, among others, Paris Hilton (um, did this list include press from the past two weeks?), Nicole Richie, the now 21-year-old Olsen twins, Jennifer Lopez, Bruce Springsteen, the cast of The Sopranos (obviously this list doesn't factor in the past few days), Peter Jackson, Paul McCartney and Law & Order mastermind Dick Wolf. Other notable boldfaced types who made the list in the past but were MIA this year: Britney Spears (who topped Forbes' 2002 rundown) and Lindsay Lohan.
Tops in their field were:
The king of snark, TV personality Simon Cowell, whose small-screen presence and $45 million paycheck helped him achieve 21st place
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld (42nd place), still powerful on DVD and in syndication with $60 million
Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen, 53rd, who proves that she's more than a pretty face—she's a pretty face with $33 million
Celebrity chef Rachael Ray, whose 30-Minute Meal juggernaut helped her burst through that glass ceiling with $16 million and land in 66th place
Jerry Bruckheimer, who does, in fact, produce everything on CBS—or enough, at least, to make $120 million and rank 39th
Here's a recap of the top 10 from Forbes' 2007 list of the 100 Most Powerful Celebrities:
1. Oprah Winfrey, $260 million
2. Tiger Woods, $100 million
3. Madonna, $72 million
4. Rolling Stones, $88 million
5. Brad Pitt, $35 million
6. Johnny Depp, $92 million
7. Elton John, $53 million
8. Tom Cruise, $31 million
9. Jay-Z, $83 million
10. Steven Spielberg, $110 million
(Check out the complete list, as well as the complete list of drop-offs, here.)
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