The Highest Paid Celebrities Under 30

Forbes has released the list of the highest paid celebrities under the age of 30.

Topping the chart is 27-year-old Abel Tesfaye, popularly known as ‘The Weeknd’, who started releasing free mix tapes in 2010 under his mysterious moniker. He earned $92 million in the year leading to June 1, 2017, before taxes and fees. The Weeknd ranked sixth on the FORBES Celebrity list of 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world.

Despite clocking 3.2 billion streams in the scoring period, most of his earnings came from an estimated $75 million touring advance.

In second place is 23-year-old Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, who made the Celebrity 100 list with $53 million. He earned a whopping sum of $83.5 million.

Next in the top three is 29-year-old British singer Adele whose album 25 was the bestselling album of 2016 with 1.73 million copies sold out.

Combined, the 30 highest-paid celebrities under 30 earned $1.24 billion combined before management fees and taxes between June 1, 2016, and June 1, 2017.

The ranks of the highest-paid celebrities under 30 are notably diverse with 50% non-white list members, likely due to the high number of athletes. According to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, 74.4% of NBA players identify as either African-American or black while African-American players comprise 69.7% of the NFL.

Asides from Adele and Jenner, only three women made the list. Twenty-seven-year-old pop star Taylor Swift ranks ninth with $44 million. Rihanna (No. 15) and Emma Stone (No. 29), both 29, earned $36 million and $26 million respectively. Stone is also the world’s highest-paid film actress. Though this is partly due to the preponderance of professional athletes, the overall list of the world’s highest-paid celebrities is highly imbalanced as well with 84% male list members.

By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe