For folks who don’t put too much stock into Forbes’ multiple Top 10 lists, the publication’s latest rankings will have you scratching your heads. How can Tim Tebow, who recently got cut by the New York Jets after only one season, which he spent mostly warming up the bench, be the Most Influential Athlete? Definitely casts doubts on the credibility of the publication’s lists. Hopefully for Tebow though, NFL teams catch wind of this honor. Someone needs a new gig. How did Tebow land the top spot? Here’s EW.com’s explanation:

“When Stephen Master, Nielsen’s Senior Vice President of Sports, explains the methodology behind the list, which Nielsen compiled with E-Poll Market Research, it becomes more clear that “influential” is a very pliable term. Their survey asked a sample population of the United States to identify famous athletes by name and face in order to measure Awareness and Likeability Appeal, and then asked respondents to associate the jocks with key personality characteristics, like Fashionable, Good-looking, Funny… and Influential. So Influential isn’t even what’s being measured in this study; it’s the perception of being influential that’s crucial. Essentially, 29 percent of the people surveyed think Tim Tebow, whose outspoken Christianity has won him a fervent following, is Influential. (Twenty-five percent gave Michael Phelps the Influential stamp of approval, as opposed to 18 percent for LeBron James.) That perception does have some value, even if it’s a watered-down metric, especially to corporations who are trying to find the right celebrity to connect their product to a specific audience.”

Find out who Tebow topped on the list. It’s an impressive bunch that includes former Olympians, future Hall of Famers from soccer, baseball and basketball. Check them out below.

check out the rest of the Top 10 after the jump

Forbes has just released their list of the Most Influential Celebrities for 2013 and it’s no surprise that Oprah Winfrey tops the list once again. It’s no surprise given the fact that she has a network, makes her round doing influential speaking engagements (which I had the pleasure of attending about a month ago), and a whole lot of other great things going for her. She also gets some pretty big names for her interviews on Oprah’s Next Chapter, including the recent Lance Armstrong special.

You may wonder how the list is determined and that is by E-Poll Research surveys. E-Poll Chief Executive Gerry Philpott says the term “influential” can mean different things to different people, but most of the time it speaks to someone’s impact on the culture. It’s not always a sign that the celebrity is well-liked. There are some interesting people on the list, like Steven Spielberg, for example. How can he be considered influential as a director? Well one example Philpott says is, “To this day, ask anyone what they think about before going in the ocean,” says Philpott (referencing Spielberg’s 1975 film Jaws).

With this all in mind, check out the list of celebrities that made the top 10 list below.

Check out the top 10 most influential celebrities after the jump…

There used to be a time when Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler could do no wrong at the box office. No matter what vehicle they starred in, it would undoubtedly become a bona fide blockbuster. But as they say, nothing lasts forever. The two veteran comedy actors find themselves on a list that no Hollywood actor wants to be on. To quote one of Murphy’s movies, I’m sure he wants to be Trading Places with anyone else right now.

Also landing on the list are one-time rom-com queens Katherine Heigl and Sandra Bullock. All it takes is one box office bomb to bring down their dollar return average. Each lady had exactly that with One For The Money and All About Steve respectively. You can also add Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close to Bullock’s less-than-stellar grosses. Find out below who ranks No. 1 on the list with a return of $2.30 for every dollar they were paid.

check out the complete list after the jump

What an exciting year for Britney Spears, and she’s raking in the dough in the process. According to Forbes, the “Scream & Shout” singer and The X Factor judge is the highest paid female musician of 2012. Earlier this year, she was noted as number 20 in the highest paid celebrities list.

Spears earned $58 million this year thanks to all of her endorsements, her fragrance line, album sales, and of course, her impressive X Factor salary (I feel like in every episode, every critique from Brit goes like this: “I thought that was really entertaining”). Side note: Her hat last night on The X Factor was fierce. Coming in second for the women on the list was Miss Taylor Swift. I guess with Red, she’s seeing green ;)

I should note that although Spears is tops the list for the women, she’s seventh in the Forbes list as a whole. Find out who the Top 25 highest paid musicians are for 2012 below. Also included are the amounts that each person made.

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Elizabeth Taylor isn’t letting a little thing called death slow her down. The movie legend is numero uno on Forbes annual list of Top Earning Dead Celebrities. Taylor passed away due to heart failure in March 2011 and landed at No. 5 on last year’s list. This year, the Cleopatra actress stepped it up and is now the queen amongst the deceased.

Forbes is reporting Liz raked in an astonishing $210 million in the past 12 months. Much of that figure (roughly $184 million) came from her record-breaking Christie’s auction where much of her belongings and memorabilia sold for insanely high prices. With no other auctions planned, Elizabeth will undoubtedly drop on next year’s list, which should make Michael Jackson’s estate very happy. The ‘King of Pop’ was the runner-up this year by earning $145 million.

The difference between second and third place is huge. Elvis Presley was about $90 million shy of MJ’s figure with $55 million in earnings. Other dead celebrities who made the list include John Lennon, Bob Marley, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein (yup the scientist) and some dude named Theodor Geisel. For those who don’t know, Geisel wrote under the pen name Dr. Seuss. I’m sure you’ve heard of him ;) See below to find out how they and others ranked in Forbes’ Top 10 list this year.

check out the Top 10 list after the jump

In contrast to the Celebrity 100 list which rates celebrities based on fame and how much they earned, this new list is strictly based on how much they earn and there are some surprises.

What is not is a surprise is that Oprah Winfrey tops the list. Forbes estimates that between May 2011 and May 2012, she earned $165 million. This is the fourth year in a row that she has topped this list. Number five is one that I didn’t see coming, but after reading where the money came from, it totally made sense. Dr. Dre brought in a whopping $130 million, but not from the recording industry. He made the money from his Beats by Dr. Dre headphones because last August, handset maker HTC paid $300 million for a 51% stake in the company, resulting in pretty much most of that $130 million for Dre says Forbes. Check out the Top 20 below and how much they each made. I’ve also included a video from Forbes commenting on the Top 5 of the list. Britney Spears made the list too!

Find out what celebrities made the Top 20 list after the jump…

There have been a lot of high profile splits this year, from Heidi Klum & Seal to Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher to most recently, Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes. Being in the spotlight and meeting the demands of a careers that take them on the road proves to be too challenging for many in Hollywood, but for others, they’ve managed to figure out the secret and they’re also reaping the rewards as a result.

In third place this year is the sexy David Beckham and Victoria Becham. Between his contract and endorsement deals, Beckham is the world’s highest paid soccer player, he makes about $46 million per year. Victoria’s gets her cash from her clothing line and Spice Girls royalties among other projects and together they made $54 million.

Find out who the top two couples were after the jump…

Last year, Forbes Magazine named Eva Longoria and Tina Fey as the two highest paid actresses on television with $13 million each. Even though they’re still raking in the cash with Longoria at $15 million this year and Fey at $11 million, they had to relinquish the crown. Watch out people, there’s a new rich bitch in town and her name is Sofia Vergara.

The “Modern Family” actress is having a great couple of days. First, she topped Forbes annual Highest-Paid TV Actresses list, but she also scored another Emmy nomination, making it her straight nod. Not only is she gorgeous, talented, but she also has a huge bank account. Forbes estimates her net earnings for the past year at $19 million. With her multiple endorsement deals, own Kmart clothing line and role on the ABC comedy, it’s no surprise she’s on top. Congrats.

Coming in at second, is actress (and I use that term loosely) Kim Kardashian Voldemort. I will not speak her name on the site ;) The other half of Kimye earned an estimated $18 million. How is it that this talentless hack earns so much yearly. People, stop watching her show. I beg of you. Rounding out the Top 5 are Longoria who drops to third this year with $15 million, new talk show host Bethenny Frankel at $12 million and the only Kardashian offspring I like, Khloe with $11 million. Check out the entire Top 20 list below.

check out the complete list after the jump