It was the famous clinical psychologist and celebrity researcher Jim
Houran who once said that “powerful people tend to gravitate toward
other powerful people.” When it comes to celebrity couples, one plus one
equals millions – $283 million, to be precise, the estimated combined
sum earned by The World’s Highest-Paid Celebrity Couples between May 2010 and May 2011, according to data from the latest Celebrity 100 list.
Coming first on our ranking is the powerful duo formed by supermodel
Gisele Bundchen and NFL superstar Tom Brady. Thanks to a monster year
filled with fashion and endorsement deals, not to mention a few business
ventures that could put her on the road to becoming the world’s first billionaire supermodel,
Bundchen pocketed a massive $45 million over the 12-month period. Not
to be overshadowed by his more famous wife, Brady – who signed a
four-year, $72 million contract extension in September with the New
England Patriots, NFL’s richest deal on an annual basis – brought home
another $31 million, putting the couple’s combined annual earnings at
$76 million.
Music’s most powerful couple, Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z hauled in
some $72 million over the past year, making them No. 2 on our list. The
Houston-born R&B diva pulled in $35 million, thanks mostly to
business-focused deals such as a clothing line with Dereon and
endorsement deals with L’Oreal, DirecTV, General Mills and others. As
for Jay-Z, his earnings come from the 10-year $150 million Live Nation
deal that he signed in 2008 and the cash he collects as a shareholder in
New Jersey Nets, 40/40 Club chain and ad firm Translation.
Hollywood royalty Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt came in third place on our list, with a combined $50 million annual income. The highest-paid actress in the world is the only woman making bank for playing action heroes in Tinseltown these days: Salt, which was originally written for Tom Cruise, earned $300 million at the box office. Her other movie from last year, The Tourist,
made another $280 million worldwide. As a result, Jolie folded about
$30 million last year, while her husband, Brad Pitt, cashed in some $20
million. With his Plan B production company, Pitt has become as active a
producer as he is an actor. But don’t write him off the big screen just
yet, as his latest movie appearance (on Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life) is already generating Oscar buzz.
Apart from the fact that he is yet to popularize soccer in America,
David Beckham, along with his former Spice Girl wife Victoria, are the
world’s fourth Highest-Paid Celebrity couple, with combined earnings of
$45 million between May 2010 and May 2011. Beckham’s pitch prowess has
declined in recent years as the 36-year-old’s career winds down, but he
still collects big endorsement checks from companies like Adidas and,
more recently, Samsung, for which he will be the global brand ambassador
during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. His pay check last year: $40
million. Victoria, which is better known on this side of the Atlantic by
her nickname Posh, responds for the other $5 million from the couple’s
annual income, thanks to the percentage of sales that she collects from
her fashion lines of wool dresses and $3,000 purses.
Coming last, but not least, is Twilight’s Robert Pattinson
and Kristen Stewart, who have both earned $20 million last year thanks
to the franchise’s global success, making their combined annual salary
$40 million. With the end of the Twilight franchise in sight, they both
are preparing for a post-vampire career. Pattinson has taken the lead in
more “serious” projects, like Remember Me, which earned $56
million on a budget of $16 million. In the meantime, Stewart’s
not-Twilight career hasn’t been as promising as her co-star and
real-life boyfriend’s so far. Her 2010 film The Runaways
grossed only $4.6 million at the box office. But there’s still hope for
Stewart: next month she will be seen in cinemas playing the leading role
in the film Snow White and the Huntsman.
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