Jerry Seinfeld tops highest-paid comedian list again
Actor Larry Thomas on his role as the ‘Soup Nazi’ on ‘Seinfeld’ and his new book.
The good times keep rolling in for Jerry Seinfeld.
The Seinfeld creator has once again topped Forbes’ highest-paid comedian list of 2018, despite the end of his famous sitcom nearly 20 years ago.
In 2018, before taxes, the funnyman earned $57.5 million, largely thanks to millions in dividends he is still collecting from his 2017 Netflix deal and the Hulu streaming rights to all nine seasons of Seinfeld.
While Seinfeld has dominated Forbes’ list since 2006, with the exception of 2016 when he was dethroned by Kevin Hart, he may have some work ahead of him if he wants to stay there in 2019.
Hart has certainly given Seinfeld a run for his money over the last two years. Even this year, the Philadelphia native was only a half of a million shy of tieing with Seinfeld, coming in second with earnings of $57 million. Hart’s Irresponsible Tour was a big part of his success this year as it topped 1 million in ticket sales, earning him more than $30 million. Not to mention, the comedian is also a huge success on the big screen. Last December, he starred in the remake of "Jumanji," which grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide.
Overall, Forbes calculated that the world’s 10 highest-paid comedians made a grand total of $292 million, before taxes and fees, from June 1, 2017, to June 1, 2018. Though impressive, it is more than $80 million lower than last year’s tally due to fewer Nextflix deals.
Forbes' list of the world’s highest-paid comedians of 2018.
1. Jerry Seinfeld
Earnings: $57.5 million
2. Kevin Hart
Earnings: $57 million
3. Dave Chappelle
Earnings: $35 million
4. Chris Rock
Earnings: $30 million
5. Ricky Gervais
Earnings: $25 million
6. Gabriel Iglesias
Earnings: $20.5 million
7. Terry Fator
Earnings: $18 million
8. Jim Gaffigan
Earnings: $17.5 million
9. Jeff Dunham
Earnings: $16.5 million
10. Sebastian Maniscalco
Earnings: $15 million