Hollywood Economics and Celebrity Salaries

"It is not really news that Hollywood is still producing anti-business movies, but there is a certain irony in it nevertheless.

Although these movies tap a certain envy and resentment of corporate wealth, that large corporate wealth comes from far more modest individual amounts of money from about half the population of the United States, which owns stocks and bonds -- either directly or because money paid into pension funds or other financial intermediaries are used to buy stocks and bonds.

The irony is that the average Hollywood star who is making anti-business movies is far wealthier than the average owners of those businesses, who are half the population of the country."

Read the rest of Thomas Sowell's column here.

From the Forbes Celebrity 100 list for entertainment income, June 2005 to June 2006:
1. Steven Spielberg $332m
2. Howard Stern $302m
3. George Lucas $235m
4. Oprah $225m
5. Tiger Woods $90m
6. Tom Cruise $67m
7. Dr. Phil $45m
8. Simon Cowell $43m
9. 50 Cent $41m
10. Paul McCartney $40m
11. Denzel Washington $38m
12. Michael Jordan $32m
13. Tom Hanks $29m
14. Adam Sandler $29m
15. Jodie Foster $27m
16. Leonardo DiCaprio $25m
17. Nicole Kidman $22

Average CEO Pay for S&P500 firms $13.5m