The Biggest Celebrity Paydays Of 2006

[Old School]

Howard Stern
Jan. 9, 2006
$192 million
Howard Stern debuts on Sirius Satellite Radio. Even before his arrival, Stern helped recruit roughly 2.7 million subscribers by touting his new gig while still on air for CBS. That earned him a Sirius stock bonus worth $192 million (net a standard capital gains tax) for exceeding subscriber targets. That bonus is on top of his $500 million, five-year contract with the satellite radio provider. Stern, who kicked the show off with the sound of flatulence, unleashed the F-bomb 68 times over the course of the first five-hour, commercial-free broadcast.

Steven Spielberg
Feb. 1, 2006
$175 million
Viacom-owned Paramount Studios finalizes the $1.5 billion acquisition of Dreamworks SKG, founded by Steven Spielberg and billionaire partners David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg in 1994. The deal, which netted the acclaimed director $175 million, included only the live-action business responsible for such hits as The Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan. Next up for Spielberg: Indiana Jones 4.

David Geffen
Nov. 1, 2006
$140 million
The record mogul sold a drip painting by Jackson Pollack for $140 million, making it the highest price ever fetched for a work of art. (That sum includes the dealer's commission.) Geffen originally bought "No. 5, 1948," a massive canvas finished eight years before the artist's death, in 1995 from publishing magnate S.I. Newhouse. The sale ignited speculation that Geffen is raising cash for his $2 billion bid to buy the Los Angeles Times.

 

[The Sponge]

I always enjoyed the stern show but never subscribed. What i never did understand was his fascination with farting. He beats this to death and it looks like he still does it. Once, twice okay but boy once twice a week uggh.

 

[Old School]

Courtney Love
March 30, 2006
$50 million
The hard-living and purportedly cash-strapped widow of Kurt Cobain, frontman of seminal alternative rock band Nirvana, sold 25% of her stake in the band's music catalog for an estimated $50 million to Primary Wave, a New York music publishing company. Die-hard fans who fear that Cobain's sacrosanct music will be used to shill toothpaste or SUVs may not be off the mark. Soon after the deal, Primary Wave inked a deal to feature a Nirvana song on CSI: Miami.

Muhammad Ali
April 11, 2006
$50 million
The boxing legend sold the rights to his name and image this year for $50 million to licensing mastermind Robert Sillerman, chief executive of CKX, who adds the champ to his stable of iconic American brands, which includes American Idol and Elvis Presley. Sillerman dubbed his newly formed company G.O.A.T., a nod to Ali's nickname, "Greatest of All Time." The three-time heavyweight champ will retain a 20% interest in the business. Ali's name has generated between $4 million and $7 million annually over the past five years, largely through endorsement deals with companies like Adidas and Electronic Arts.

Steve Martin
Dec. 2, 2006
$23.5 million
The actor-comedian--and avid contemporary art collector--sold a 1955 Edward Hopper canvas called "Hotel Window" at auction for $26.8 million (includes auction house commission). Martin is a regular at the semiannual modern and contemporary auctions hosted by Sotheby's and Christie's; he was recently sighted scoping out the fare at Miami's Art Basel festival.

 

[Old School]

Ellen Barkin
October 2006
$20.4 million
The sultry-voiced actress bagged more than $20.4 million (includes unknown commission to Christie's auction house) in a single night from the auction of her 103-piece jewelry collection, amassed over her five-year marriage to billionaire Ron Perelman. Among the items up for grabs were her wedding ring (a wide band set with four rows of bell-cut diamonds topped in 18-carat gold) which fetched $130,000, and a 22.76-carat diamond ring created by 20th-century American designer JAR, which sold for $1.8 million.

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston
March 23, 2006
$12 million
Celebrity blog TMZ reports that the 1934 French Normandy mansion in Beverly Hills owned by the divorced couple is finally in escrow for nearly $25 million. The couple bought the estate, designed by Wallace Neff for actor Frederic March, in 2001 for some $13 million. Pitt spent at least two years rehabbing the 11,000-square-foot, five-bedroom, eight-bath home to accommodate a projection room, gourmet kitchen and art studio. The actors split the profit.