Oprah and Beyoncé Top Earners in 2010; Entertainers’ Ex-Wives Following Suit

By admin
Dec 30, 2010
5:35 pm

Oprah Winfrey takes the top spot on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list, raking in a cool $315 million, while Beyoncé snags the No. 2 spot with $87 million. These sisters are putting in the work.

Who’s Now?

The self-made billionaire’s Harpo Production Company partnered with Discovery Communications to launch the lifestyle-themed Oprah Winfrey Network on Jan. 1, 2011.

(OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announces premiere week launch schedule)

Beyoncé expands her empire beyond music, inking endorsement deals with companies ranging from Nintendo to L’Oreal and her growing Deréon fashion line earns millions of dollars per year in addition to the $86 million that she grossed from a 93-stop world tour.

Who’s Next?

On another note, ex-wives of famous entertainers have stepped out of the shadows of their former significant others to build their own empires.

alt Damon Dash’s ex, Rachel Roy, is a New York-based fashion designer who interned at Rocawear after college, where she rose to become creative director of the women’s and children’s divisions. In 2005, Roy launched an eponymous fashion collection. Her RACHEL clothing line, and shoe line, Rachel Roy, are available at Macy’s.

alt Shaunie O’Neal married Shaq on Dec. 26, 2002. She is building her own empire after the success of her debut shows “Basketball Wives” and “Football Wives.” Shaunie serves as executive producer of VH1’s “Basketball Wives,” where she’s the den mother, and “Football Wives.” She’s penning a book that she says is not a tell-all, but one that will encourage other mothers that there’s life after divorce.

alt Celebrity stylist Tameka Foster Raymond is the owner of Swanky Image Group and Hides & Dungarees denim and leather collection, Estella and Estella Home in Atlanta. Through her foundation, “The Lost Ones,” which targets young girls in at-risk environments between the ages of 12-18 years old, Raymond is earning the respect and affection of the community at large. With five children, it isn’t a surprise that she recently opened a kids playhouse called Kamazoom in Smyrna, Ga.

alt It’s a well-known fact that Andrea Kelly was the secret wife of famed R&B singer R. Kelly. They were reportedly married for 11 years and have three children together. During their marriage, she was his personal choreographer. Kelly began dancing at age 17. She founded the Dream Tu Dance Productions in Chicago and another theater in Atlanta, Le Pink Kitty Cabaret, to give young African American women a positive self-image.

alt Film and theater costume designer Myrna Colley-Lee divorced Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman after 26 years of marriage. She’s an active philanthropist in the Charleston, S.C., area with schools and various arts programs. Colley-Lee collected a whopping $400 million, the fifth-largest divorce payout ever.