Influence, wealth and recognition are the name of the game when it comes to topping the annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Power, prestige, talent and beauty certainly play a role in winning one of the 100 coveted slots – but ultimately, it’s the fans that catapult our biggest stars into the stratosphere.
Thanks to her 32 million Facebook fans and 9.5 Twitter followers, not to mention a passionate and controversial gay rights advocacy influence and a whopping $90 million in earnings from her Monster tour, Lady Gaga has toppled Oprah Winfrey this year and claimed the No.1 spot on the influential Forbes list. MSNBC reports that Oprah, who has only relinquished the top spot three times in the last seven years, remains close at Gaga’s heels at No.2. Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber, another social media success story, snagged the No.3 slot for 2011.
Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list, which has been published annually since 1999, runs the gamut and includes actors, television personalities, athletes, supermodels, authors, musicians and performing artists. Inclusion in the list is measured according to entertainment-related earnings and visibility across media channels ranging from print and television to radio and web presence – including this year’s big star-makers, Facebook and Twitter.
