Forbes unveils list of 100 highest-earning celebs in 2015

Forbes unveils top celebrity earners

Like him or not, boxer Floyd Mayweather is the highest paid celebrity in the world, according to Forbes' new list of the 100 World's Highest-Paid Superstars of 2015.

Mayweather's windfall of $300 million from his defeat of Manny Pacquiao on the May 2 Pay-Per-View boxing match also gives him the distinction of having the greatest one-year income of any athlete in history. However, loser Pacquiao still wins second place on the Forbes' Celebrity 100 for his still-impressive $160 million earnings from the same match.

But perhaps the real knockout from the list is singer Katy Perry, whose 2015 earnings total $135 million, landing her third on the list and the subject of the magazine's cover story. Forbes sites the "Dark Horse" singer's global presence as a top entertainer for financial success; out of 124 concerts during her Prismatic World Tour, 75 of them took place outside of the United States, and her managers say 60 percent of her income stems from foreign markets.

Another global-success story, the once five, now four-member boy-band One Direction, trails closely behind Perry at the No. 4 spot with earnings topping $130 million, mostly from their 75-date world tour that hit every continent (except Antarctica). The group of guys all under 23 years old, which said farewell to member Zayn Malik in March, earned more than twice that of The Rolling Stones in 2015.

Forbes points to global markets and marketing as the theme behind this year's wealth. "Furious 7,"which grossed $1.5 billion worldwide, $1 billion from foreign markets alone, helped land its star Vin Diesel on the list at No. 43 with a $47 million paycheck this year, and brought him closer to his dream as being "the person who brought multiculturalism to the world through my existence," as he had told Forbes.

Rounding out the list's top five highest-earning celebrities this year is "America's Got Talent" host Howard Stern at No. 5, with earnings of $95 million. At No. 6 is country-singer Garth Brooks ($90 million), followed by fiction author James Patterson ($89 million).

Tied for eighth place are actor Robert Downey Jr. ($80 million) and Taylor Swift, who was also named among Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, at No. 64.

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