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June 21, 2004
11:48 AM EDT (1548 GMT)
Forbes Magazine unveiled its most recent "Celebrity 100" and "World's 50 Highest-Paid Athletes" lists in its July 5 issue.
While it should come as no surprise that celebrities such as Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey and Tom Cruise graced the top of the "Celebrity 100" list, NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr. was ranked 59th. According to Forbes.com/celebs, rankings are based on the relative star power of the celebrity, including how much they earn and how many people are paying attention to them.
Earnhardt Jr., whose estimated earnings from June 2003 to June 2004 were $20 million (including salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements and appearance fees), was "power ranked" in the same category of celebrities such as Jay Leno, Derek Jeter, Halle Berry and Jessica Simpson.
Additional criteria used to rank the Forbes "Celebrity 100" personalities included web hits, press clips and TV/radio mentions.
Earnhardt Jr. ranked 37th for web hits (454,000), 26th for press clips (13,054) and 51st for TV/radio mentions (61).
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When focused strictly on the "World's 50 Highest-Paid Athletes," Earnhardt Jr. was ranked 18th, while fellow NASCAR competitor Jeff Gordon came in at 23rd.
Based on the same formula used to calculate earnings, it is estimated Gordon made $19.3 million from June 2003 to June 2004. In 2003, Gordon was ranked 59th in the overall "Celebrity 100" list but has subsequently fallen out.
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