AP News, September 29th, 2007
Oprah Winfrey keeps topping Forbes' rankings of the rich and famous.
This is Forbes' third go-round this year at putting Winfrey at the top of some list or other. The talk-show titan took the top spot on Forbes.com's list of "The 20 Richest Women in Entertainment" in January; six months later, she topped the magazine's annual "Celebrity 100 Power List" for the second time.
Winfrey, 53, now leads Forbes.com's list of the 20 richest celebs on television. It's one of many new celebrity lists being issued by the Web site, which appears to have figured out that ranking boldfaced names is a good way to get some attention.
Winfrey, whose media empire includes a magazine and stakes in syndicated daytime talk shows by Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray, earned an estimated $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007.
Jerry Seinfeld is No. 2 with $60 million. The comedian, who has a vast Porsche collection, continues to get rich from reruns of his sitcom "Seinfeld," which he partly owns.
Simon Cowell of Fox's "American Idol" places third with $45 million. David Letterman, ranks fourth with $40 million, followed by Donald Trump and Jay Leno (both $32 million), McGraw and Judy "Judge Judy" Sheindlin (both $30 million) and George Lopez ($26 million).
Kiefer Sutherland, who portrays agent Jack Bauer on "24," landed at No. 10 by collecting $22 million from the popular Fox drama.
He's followed by Regis Philbin ($21 million); Tyra Banks ($18 million); celebrity chef Ray ($16 million); Katie Couric and Ellen DeGeneres ($15 million); Ryan Seacrest ($14 million); Matt Lauer ($13 million); Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer (both $12 million); and Meredith Vieira ($10 million).
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