Forbes magazine listed the highest-paid artists in the entertainment industry in 2021. Peter Jackson, the three-award-winning director known for the Lord of the Rings series and the Hobbit films, and who appeared this year in the Beatles documentary Get Back, became the highest-paid artist of 2021.
Peter Jackson topped the list over the past year when he sold his digital effects company, Weta Digital; to Unity Software for $1.6 billion. Jackson, who earned $580 million from the sale, was placed number one on the list and put his name on the side of billionaire directors such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
Second on the list is Bruce Springsteen, who sold his music catalog to Sony Music for $500 million.
The list, which does not include any women in the top 10, includes only 3 women (Reese Witherspoon, Marta Kaufmann and Shonda Rhimes) in the top 20:
- Peter Jackson – $580 million
- Bruce Springsteen – $435 million
- Jay-Z – $340 million
- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – $270 million
- Kanye West – $235 million
- Trey Parker and Matt Stone – $210 million
- Paul Simon – $200 million
- Tyler Perry – $165 million
- Ryan Tedder – $160 million
- Bob Dylan – $130 million
Reese Witherspoon, the 12th-ranked “highest-paid female artist,” also reportedly earned $115 million through production company Hello Sunshine.
