Angelina Jolie Beats Oprah Winfrey As Forbes' Most Powerful Celebrity

Despite 2008-2009′s economic disasters, the stars in Forbes Celebrity 100 have had a good year with total earnings on the list at $4.1 Billion dollars.

That’s up $100 Million from last year’s $4 Billion!

From Ancient Roman times to The Great Depression to today, the Entertainment Business always flourishes during economic hardships as people seek music, drama and laughter to take their minds off their own troubles.

Though some people feel it’s unfair that celebrities make so much money compared to teachers, doctors and scientist… keep in mind that these entertainers fuel the dreams and engage the imaginations of billions of people.

Now where would we be without our dreams and imaginations?

When deciding who goes where on the Celebrity 100 Forbes magazine considers how a Star has handled themselves over the past year in 2 arenas:

Fortune
Fame

When estimating how much money a celebrity has made in the past year, Forbes considers income from films, television shows, endorsements, books and businesses.

When estimating fame, Forbes considers Web searches, TV/radio mentions and photo appearances on 25 top magazines.

Thanks to movies Kung Fu Panda, Wanted and un-released spy flick Salt, Angelina Jolie has raked in $27 million dollars between 2008 and 2009.

When it comes to fame, Angelina Jolie’s name has rolled off more people’s tongues than anybody else in the game.

Spitting out bouncing twin babies, philanthropic globe trotting and romancing fellow A-List celeb Brad Pitt (Celebrity 100 – #9) are all in a days work for Jolie and have consistently landed her in headlines and cover pages, print and on-line, all over the world!

These twin boosts in fortune and fame have propelled Jolie to the top of the Celebrity 100 surpassing long time Mega-Mogul Oprah Winfrey.

But don’t shed any tears for the talk show queen. With last year’s earnings at $275 million dollars, Oprah is still the list’s top earner!

Though ratings may have slid, just a tad, for The Oprah Winfrey Show, her earnings from the program have not. In addition, Oprah scored a $55 million dollar deal with XM Satellite Radio and has an entire Oprah Winfrey Network rolling out with Discovery Communications.

No matter who’s on top of Forbes’ list, these ladies are both at the top of their game.

Right on their heels are Madonna (#3 – $110 Million), Beyoncé (#4 – $87 million) and Tiger Woods (#5 – $110 million).

But these are old hands.

New faces include

Writer Stephanie Meyer (#26 – $50 Million) of Twilight fame who’s sold 29 million books
Country singer Taylor Swift (#69 – $18 Million), 2008′s top-selling music artist.
U.S President Barack Obama (#49 – $2.5 Million) who’s a best selling author and “the first sitting head of state to land on the Celebrity 100.”

Whether at the top or the very bottom, anybody on the Celebrity 100 is a Model Mogul.

Source: Forbes.com