Katy Perry beats One Direction and Taylor Swift in celeb rich list

She’s the top earning female celebrity of the past year

Published 30th Jun 2015

Katy Perry was the top earning female celebrity of the past year earning more than Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and her arch nemesis Taylor Swift.

According to Forbes magazine, the ‘Roar’ singer raked in an impressive $135million (£86million) over the last 12 months making the third highest earning star on the planet.

Thanks to their Las Vegas showdown in May, boxers Floyd Mayweather (£191million) and Manny Pacquiao (£102million) are at the summit of the annual entertainment rich list.

Delighted with her achievements (and colossal bank balance), Katy told the magazine: "I am proud of my position as a boss, as a person that runs my own company.

"I don't want to shy away from it. I actually wanted to kind of grab it by its balls. I'm not here to brag. I'm here to inspire other females.”

Over the past five years, Katy is estimated to have earned an eye-watering £194million from things like tours, music sales and product endorsements.

Since shooting into the limelight in 2008, she has sold 11million albums and 81million singles across the globe plus her video for ‘Dark Horse’ has been watched more than a billion times on YouTube.

Katy’s earnings for the last year come out ahead of One Direction who raked in £82million despite Zayn Malik’s departure.

Taylor Swift – who is the top earning celeb couple alongside her beau Calvin Harris – took home an estimated £51million since the release of ‘1989’.

Although celebs including Kim Kardashian and Beyonce also made the list, the Top 100 countdown is dominated by males who account for 80% of the list.

The Top 10 earning celebrities of the last year are:

  1. Floyd Mayweather (£191million) 2. Manny Pacquiao (£102million) 3. Katy Perry (£86million) 4. One Direction (£82million) 5. Howard Stern (£60million) 6. Garth Brooks (£57million) 7. James Patterson (£56.5million) 8. Robert Downey Jr. (£51million) 9. Taylor Swift (£51million) 10. Cristiano Ronaldo (£50.5million)