Celebrity is the ultimate asset. In this frantic age of nanosecond attention spans, fame is fortune--not just for the pampered stars but also for the businesses that bank on them. The combined wattage of Julia Roberts, Adam Sandler and Bruce Willis helped launch Joe Roth's new movie studio last year. The worldwide appeal of Britney Spears, 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys give low-profile mogul Clive Calder powerful leverage in the music business. Our Celebrity 100 list seeks to quantify such intangibles. We begin by totaling up the top earners in 14 different categories, then factor in media attention and other metrics of fame. That's why Tom Cruise--though he ranks a mere 13 in pay--is number one when magazine covers, media mentions and Internet presence are also tallied.

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Highlights

See Also Star Dollars, Star Power Earnings from the Crypt Celebrity 100 Games Download Celebrity Ticker for PC Download Celebrity Ticker for MAC People Tracker

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Methodology: Earnings estimates are in millions for calendar year 2000. Published sources include Billboard, Duncan's American Radio, Pollstar, Radio & Records and Variety. Web mentions generated by Google. Press clips generated by Lexis-Nexis. Magazine covers based on the number of times a celebrity's face appeared on the covers of 14 major consumer magazines. TV/radio mentions compiled via Dow Jones Interactive's media transcripts.