Atlanta Black Star reported last week that Dr. Dre was the top money earner in hip hop because of the sale of his headphones, according to the Forbes magazine annual list of the top-earning celebrities, but who else is on the list of the top 20 money earners in hip hop?
The website Hypebot put together a list of hip hop’s high flyers, using the information from the Forbes list.
Dr. Dre blew away the rest of the field with $110 million made between May 2011 and May 2012, primarily due to selling a 51 percent stake in his Beats by Dr. Dre headphones company (which he co-founded with Interscope Chief Jimmy Iovine in 2006) to HTC for $300 million.
Right behind legendary hitmaker Dre on the list is Sean “Diddy” Combs, who always seems near the top of these lists. Combs brought in $45 million over the past year, helped substantially by profits from his Ciroc vodka line.
Jay-Z is right behind Diddy at $38 million, while his partner in money-making magic these days, Kanye West, is behind Jay at $35 million.
See below to check out the rest of the list.
The 20 Top-Earning Hip-Hop Stars (2012):
1. Dr. Dre @ $110 million
2. Diddy @ $45 million
3. Jay-Z @ $38 million
4. Kanye West @ $35 million
5. Lil Wayne @ $27 million
6. Drake @ $20.5 million
7. Bryan “Birdman” Williams @ $20 million
8. Nicki Minaj @ $15.5 million
9. Eminem @ $15 million
10. Ludacris @ $12 million
11. Pitbull @ $9.5 million
12. Rick Ross @ $9 million (tied)
12. Wiz Khalifa @ $9 million (tied)
14. Snoop Lion @ $8.5 million
15. 50 Cent @ $7.5 million
16. Swizz Beatz @ $7 million (tied)
16. Pharrell Williams @ $7 million (tied)
16. Young Jeezy @ $7 million (tied)
19. Mac Miller @ $6.5 million
20. Akon @ $6 million (tied)
20. Timbaland @ $6 million (tied)
20. Tech N9ne @ $6 million (tied)
