NEW YORK -- Pop singer Michael Jackson, who will make about $97 million during 1987 and 1988, has replaced comedian Bill Cosby as the world's highest-paid entertainer, Forbes magazine reports in its Oct. 3 issue.
Jackson, who was ranked ninth last year on the Forbes list, should earn about $60 million in 1988 from his worldwide tour, recording and publishing efforts, Forbes said, adding that the 30-year-old singer earned $37 million in 1987.
Cosby falls to the No. 2 spot on the Forbes list of 40 best-paid celebrities with an estimated income of $92 million for 1987 and 1988.
Forbes compiled its list by using the income of performers over the past two years to overcome the year-to-year volatility of a performer's income, a magazine spokesman said.
The minimum two-year income needed to qualify was $16 million.
Director Steven Spielberg moved up to the No. 3 position on the list with estimated earnings of $64 million for the two-year period. Spielberg was ranked sixth last year.
Actor Sylvester Stallone dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 on this year's list, while Eddie Murphy held on to the No. 5 position for the second consecutive year. Stallone and Murphy should make $63 million and $62 million respectively for the two-year period.
No. 6 was cartoonist Charles Schulz, $62 million, and No. 7 was singer Bruce Springsteen, $61 million.
Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson leaped from No. 35 last year to clinch the No. 8 spot on this year's list with an estimated income of $55 million. Tyson's climb in the rankings was the biggest on the list.
Also on the top 10 were performer Madonna, $46 million, and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, $43 million.
At the bottom of the list of best-paid was singer Frank Sinatra with a combined income of $16 million for the two years. At age 72, Sinatra was also the oldest entertainer to make the Forbes list.
About 50 percent of the entertainers ranked by Forbes were musicians. Besides Jackson and Springsteen, among those listed were Irish rock bank U2, as well as Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead and John Cougar Mellencamp.
Novelist Steven King, talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey and Australian actor Paul Hogan also were among those listed by the magazine.
Although they were not eligible for the Forbes ranking, the estates of several deceased musicians continue to earn millions of dollars each year.
Guided tours and gift sales at Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion bring the Presley estate more than $11 million annually. He bought Graceland for $100,000 in 1957.
Licensing fees associated with the Elvis image earn about $4 million each year.
Record sales and publishing fees bring ex-Beatle John Lennon's estate more than $5 million each year and guitarist Jimi Hendrix continues to earn $4 million a year posthumously.
