Peter Jackson tops Forbes' Highest-Paid Entertainers 2022 list; beats Dwayne Johnson & co

Peter Jackson is the highest-paid entertainer this year, as per Forbes. The veteran filmmaker was among the creative artists who earned a good amount for selling their iconic works, catapulting them to the coveted list.

Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Resse Witherspoon and the creators of shows like Friends, Law & Order, South Park also earned in a similar manner to gain a spot on the highest-paid list. The Hollywood stars and music stars were the other people on the list. 

Peter Jackson tops Forbes' highest-paid entertainers' list 

Peter Jackson, known for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, was estimated to have earned $580 million, as per Forbes. The Academy award-winning director earned $1.6 billion by partially selling his visual effects company Weta Digital to Unity Software in November this year to reach the top-of-the-table figure.  

Veteran rock star Bruce Springsteen was No 2 on the list at $435 million. For the musician, the figure was contributed by a $500 million deal in December with frequent collaborators Sony Music. Not just his tracks, the deal also included his songwriting credits, live recordings and more.

Jay-Z is No 3 on the list with $340 million coming in, contributed by him cashing out of streaming platform Tidal and  Armand de Brignac champagne brand, as per Forbes. 

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is the highest-paid actor on No 4 with $270 this year. However, it was not his acting credits like Jungle Cruise and Red Notice, that contributed majorly to this figure. His tequila brand Teremana raked in most of the moolah.

Kanye West was the next musician on the list with $235 million at No 5. Even for the rapper, his businesses like his partnership with Adidas for designs drove the majority of this figure. 

On No 6 were creators of the animated series South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who signed a $900 million deal with Paramount +. They earned $210 million amid the series minting over $80 million/year.

Paul Simon was another musician who made it to the list at No 7 with $200 million after selling numerous compositions to Sony Music for $250 million. 

Tyler Perry was on No 8 on the Highest-Paid Entertainers List with $165 million. The actor-content creator's deal with BET and his Atlanta-based production studio played a major part in this figure. 

Musician Ryan Tedder was ninth on the list with $160 million after selling a major part of his catalogue to KKR in January last year. 

Legendary folk and rock singer Bob Dylan was on No 10 on the list with $150 million. His deal with Sony Music to transfer many of his works, including upcoming ones, for $150 million, contributed to this figure. 

Who are the others on Forbes' Highest-paid Entertainers' list?

Music band Red Hot Chili Peppers, actor-producer Reese Witherspoon, content creator Chuck Lorre, rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, content creator Dick Wolf, radio personality-author Howard Stern, Friends creators Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, David Crane, content creator Shonda Rhimes, singer Neil Young, content producer Greg Berlanti, musician Lindsey Buckingham, rock band Mötley Crüe, band Beach Boys, singer Blake Shelton, pop star Taylor Swift were the other names on the Highest-paid Entertainers list.