Oprah, Master P and Puff Daddy amoung Forbes' list of 40 highest-paid entertainers

Jet, Sept 28, 1998

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey and rappers-music executives Master P and Puff Daddy were among the 40 Highest-Paid Entertainers named by Forbes this year.

Winfrey, whose top-rated talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," recently celebrated its 13th season with a renewed mission, ranked 4th on the list by earning an estimated $125 million income. Winfrey, who topped the list in 1996, ranked 3rd last year.

Percy Miller, best known in the hip hop world as Master P, who is also president-CEO of No Limit Records, listed 10th after earning an estimated $56.5 million.

Sean "Puffy" Combs, who goes by the stage name Puff Daddy, earned an estimated $53.5 million, which placed him 15th on Forbes' list. Rapper, writer and producer Combs' Bad Boy Record label took the music industry by storm with its meteoric success.

Famed female group the Spice Girls, who includes Black member Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown, came in at 20 on the list with estimated earnings of $49 million.

Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy, set to star opposite Martin Lawrence in the upcoming movie, Life, was listed 22nd, earning $47.5 million, while rapper-comedian-actor Will Smith, who earned $34 million, ranked 36 on the list.

Based on interviews with agents, lawyers and other Hollywood insiders, the list counts income derived from entertainment alone and doesn't include any outside investments.