Top-earning celebrities revealed

Oprah Winfrey - the year's number one on Forbes list. Photo supplied

The annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list is out - and women have grabbed the top two spots.

To do well on the list, the celebs need to have plenty of business acumen to go along with their fame (or notoriety).

Talk show diva Oprah Winfrey has the number one position. She hauled in US$315 million from her media empire.

Winfrey earns big thanks to The Oprah Winfrey Show as well as her magazine, popular website, radio channel, TV specials and movies like the Oscar-nominated Precious.

For Oprah, it was a case of snatching back the title she earned in 2008. She was ousted by Angelina Jolie on last year's list, but Jolie couldn't keep up the pace - the actress dropped to No. 18 this year.

Beyonce Knowles climbs two spots to No. 2 on this year's list. Her 90-plus date global tour grossed more than US$85 million. Expanding her interests beyond music, she's also launched a fashion line and a fragrance.

In at No. 3 is film director James Cameron, thanks to the box office success of Avatar. The 3D blockbuster broke Cameron's own record by grossing US$2.7 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing film ever.

The list has some hot new blood, too.

Poker Face singer Lady Gaga has burst into fourth place, proving her wacky wardrobe, non-stop touring and controversial antics translate to gold. Gaga earned an estimated US$62 million in the last year.

Twilight stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart proved that vampire movies have bite.

The youthful pair took their first-ever spots in the Celebrity 100, further down the ranking of the world's most powerful notables, eclipsing noughties heavyweights like Sarah Jessica Parker and Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Remarkably, Tiger Woods managed to hold onto his No 5 position despite the shocking sex scandal in December that rocked his personal and professional lives.

The disgraced golfer pulled in US$105 million, down only slightly from the US$110 million reported on last year's list.

The list's other newcomers were late-night host Conan O'Brien (No. 51), the Black Eyed Peas (No. 16), actor Robert Downey Jr. (No. 73) and comedian Chelsea Handler (No. 98).

There was no room for President Barack Obama, musician Kanye West or TV host Jon Stewart anywhere on the list.

- NZ HERALD STAFF