Who Are The Richest U.S. Celebrities?

Who are the richest U.S. celebrities? Oprah Winfrey is most certainly at the top of the list, as she is every year. The list of billionaires for America includes her name and many more familiar faces. Forbes.com uses a ranking of pay, web rank, press rank and TV rank to calculate the top earning celebrities in the U.S.

Angelina Jolie is one of the richest US celebrities.

According to Forbes, Oprah was dethroned as the top richest U.S. celebrity in the world in 2009 by Angelina Jolie, whose string of blockbuster films pushed her to the top slot at $27 million in earnings for that year. Her partner Brad Pitt also shows up on the top 100 list at number nine with an income of $28 million, proving this couple is not hurting for money. Oprah Winfrey is second with $275 million. If you look at sheer income, Winfrey is a force to be reckoned with.

If you think Madonna is fading into the sunset, think again. She is number three on the list with an income of $110 for 2009. Beyonce Knowles is fourth with an income of $87 million, garnered from her various videos, albums and appearances that year. Coming in at number eight is Jennifer Aniston, who brought in $25 million from her films in 2009.

Looking at the top ten billionaire celebrities in 2009 for overall wealth, the list widens to include filmmakers, technical giants, a New York mayor and publisher, fashion designers, an industrialist, a business magnate and real estate developer, and a television talk show host slash media icon.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates comes in at number one with $53 billion in assets. For fifteen consecutive years Gates had the “richest person in the world” title, until Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helœ took over that title. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is second on the list, even after a generous donation of $300 million to Johns Hopkins University that year, with a total of $20 billion. Apple’s Steve Jobs recently dealt with health issues, but still shows a net income of $5.4 billion.

Fashion designer Giorgio Armani, famous for his menswear designs, has a personal fortune worth $5 billion. Sir Richard Branson, creator of Virgin Records and Virgin Mobile, known for his flamboyant lifestyle, still comes in at $4.4 billion. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren, famous for his “Polo” line, is worth $4.2 billion.

Film directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are number seven and eight on the list with $3.9 billion and $3 billion respectively. Last, but certainly not least, Oprah Winfrey is on the billionaire list at number ten with a net worth estimated at $2.5 billion.