If you want to rule the world…become a musician. If you want to rule the sports world…become Tiger Woods (good luck with that). That’s according to the Celebrity 100 list recently released by Forbes.

NOTE: This is the second article by Forbes I’ve referenced in eight days (the other is Albert Pujols: Baseball’s Most Underpaid Player), so they’re pumping out some quality content right now.

For only the third time in the last seven years, Oprah Winfrey doesn’t lead “The World’s Most Powerful Celebrities” list. Instead…brace yourself for this…it’s Lady Gaga. According to the Forbes article, she reeled in $90 million last year, but it’s her following that put her over the top. Gaga (or do you need to keep the “Lady” attatched?) has more than 32 million Facebook fans and 10 million Twitter followers. Thanks to her presence online, there were more than one million digital downloads of her new hit “Born This Way” in just five days! Who says social media is a joke?

Of the Top 10 people/groups listed, seven of them come from the world of music (Justin Bieber (3), U2 (4), Elton John (5), Taylor Swift (7), Bon Jovi (8), and Simon Cowell (9).

Despite slumping on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods is one of two athletes to crack the Top 10. He comes in at No. 6, making him the top athlete on the list. The Forbes article says Woods still reels in around $75 million a year. He earns $3 million alone for making one overseas appearance. That’s outrageous!

The other athlete to make the Top 10 is Miami Heat star LeBron James. He snuck in at No. 10. James brought in $48 million last year (ranked 29th in the Top 100), but it’s his television presence (ranked 2nd) that pushes him into the celebrity elite.

Other athletes on the Celebrity 100 list include: Kobe Bryant (14), Roger Federer (25), David Beckham (T-35), Phil Mickelson (T-35), Cristiano Ronaldo (43), Rafael Nadal (46), Alex Rodriguez (49), Tom Brady (55), Dwayne Wade (57), Dwight Howard (59), Lionel Messi (62), Derek Jeter (69), Peyton Manning (72), Maria Sharapova (80), Serena Williams (84), Venus Williams (86), and Danica Patrick (96).

I’d be happy to be any of those people. It’s not that I hate who I am…I’d just like to roll up in a blanket of million dollar bills (they exist in my mind) every night when I go to bed. It’s too bad my athletic ability (or lack thereof) never took me very far. I guess that’s why I talk sports now, instead of playing them. Maybe I should invest in some singing lessons (if there’s such a thing)?

Let me know what you think of the Celebrity 100 list. Am I completely out of the loop, or is Lady Gaga really that cool? Leave a comment below, email me at tim@timlewissports.com, or connect with me on Facebook and Twitter. I always love to hear from you!

Tags: athletes, baseball, basketball, celebrities, football, golf, social media, Sports

This entry was posted on May 19, 2011 at 11:17 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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