Oprah tops Forbes most powerful celebrity list

MONEY, FAME, SOCIAL MEDIA

Forbes based a celebrity's earnings on income from tours, books, contracts, endorsements, movies and residuals. Each celebrity was given a marketability score, developed by California market research firm E-Poll.

It gauged fame and influence by how often celebrities appeared in the media and used Starcount, a Singapore-based company that looks at 11 social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to determine their presence in social media.

"In today's world celebrities have this enormous ability to reach out to their fans, who really are their customers, and to sell their product, which is really themselves. If they don't take advantage of that it hurts them," said Pomerantz.

Pop stars, most notably Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Barbados-born singer Rihanna, are particularly good with handling social media, according to Forbes, whose full list can be found at www.forbes.com/celebrities/

Top celebrity couples included Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z (32) and American football quarterback Tom Brady (65) and his model wife Gisele Bundchen (81).

Newcomers to the list included Oscar winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, who was No. 49, Australian model Miranda Kerr at No. 100, and E.L. James, the author of the publishing sensation "Fifty Shades of Grey," who was No. 42.

"She (James) made $95 million last year," said Pomerantz.