It’s always interesting to see who the richest people in the world are and what they earn. Over at Business Pundit, they have put together the 12 highest earners in 2009 along with what they earned and how they earned it.

Stephan Schwarzman: $702,440,573
Stephan Schwarzman is co-founder of the Blackstone Group private-equity firm. According to CNN money, he took home $702,440,573 (in salary, equity and bonus) in 2009 increasing his total net worth to $7.8 billion.

Larry Ellison: $556,976,600
Larry Ellison is CEO of computer firm Oracle. In a year when executive pay fell 11% and a year where Ellison pledged to take a pay cut, he still earned $556,976,600, much of which is in Oracle stock of which he owns 23.4%

Oprah Winfrey: $275,000,000
Chat-show host Oprah Winfrey collected a cool $275 million in 2009. Oprah has created a media empire that is now said to be one of the most powerful brands in the world.

Ray Irani: $222,639,705
Occidental Petroleum CEO Ray Irani collected a yearly compensation at over $222 million – with his five year compensation totalled over $740 million. The 74 year old executive derived only $1.3 million of 2009 pay from his salary, getting another $3.6 from bonuses, $33 million from “other” sources and $184 million from appreciation in company stock.

Tiger Woods: $110,000,000
2009 saw a turbulent end for the sporting superstar however he still managed to earn more than twice the earnings of any other sports star despite not being able to play for eight of the twelve months of the year due to knee surgery. Around $11 million comes from golf winnings; the rest is down to a golf course design business and sponsorship deals with the likes of Nike, Gillette and Accenture.

Madonna: $100,000,000
The to-selling female artist of the twentieth century earned a massive $100 million in 2009. Most of this money was from her massively successful ‘Sticky and sweet’ world tour, grossing around $80 million.

Tyler Perry: $75,000,000
Tyler Perry is smart in that he retains full ownership of his films and puts his name in front of every title he is involved with. Therefore Perry reaps large quantities of money from every project he invests into. Perry has added to his movie repertoire by writing and touring with around a dozen stage plays.

Harrison Ford: $65,000,000
The movie superstar Harrison Ford earned a cool $65 million thanks to the 2008 movie ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.’ Most of his money came from his stake in the profits from the film which grossed $786 billion at the Box Office.

Adam Sandler: $55,000,000
Adam Sandler’s films are reported to have grossed around $413 million at the box office. The success of this funny-man’s films mean he was paid a massive $55 million for his roles in several films including ‘Bedtime Stories’ and ‘Don’t Mess with the Zohan.’

Kobe Bryant: $45,000,000
Kobe Bryant is one of the top players in the NBA with his number 8 Lakers top being one of the top sellers.

Nicolas Cage: $40,000,000
Despite rumours of financial problems and reports that this Hollywood superstar would have to sell some of his property empire, Nicholas Cage has starred in six films over two years resulting in a $40 million pay-cheque. Cage has added to his income by also selling off some of his cars and a comic book collection worth around $1.6 million.

Dale Earnhardt Jr: $35,000,000
Dale Earnhardt Jr is one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers, despite winning just the one race in the last two seasons. Rumour has it that he sells twice the amoutn of merchandise of any other driver. Because of his less than stellar race record, the bilk of his earnings come from sponsorship deals with companies such as Polaris, Wrangler and Adidas.

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