Russian stars of show business and sports are always in the spotlight. Their earnings, level of popularity, mention in online and paper publications and search engines – everything is taken into account and systematized.
So Forbes magazine, after a thorough analysis, released the annual rating of the most famous Russian stars in 2024, the list was based on three factors:
– annual income;
– mention in the media;
– interest of the audience (the number of requests about a particular person in Yandex).
We present you the top 10 richest and most popular show business and sports stars in Russia.
10Ksenia Sobchak
Field of activity: television.
Income: 2.1 million dollars.
Since last year, a well-known journalist, TV and radio host has added five points at once, which allowed her to enter the top ten Russian celebrities according to Forbes. More recently, in 2016, Ksenia and her husband Maxim Vitorgan had a son, Platon. But the new mother does not seem to be going to become a desperate housewife. She leads an active social life, interviews famous people (in particular, Alexei Navalny), and there are rumors that Sobchak could become a presidential candidate in the 2024 elections. An unnamed interlocutor in the presidential administration, in an interview with a Vedomosti journalist, said that the bright, interesting and intelligent Ksenia Sobchak would be “ideal” for a candidate for the post of head of the Russian Federation.
9Anna Netrebko
Field of activity: classical music
Income: 7.5 million dollars.
The sweet-voiced opera diva has advanced 20 points in the list of the main Russian stars in a year. She has a number of contracts with the most famous stages in the world: the Vienna Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Bavarian Opera, etc. In August 2024, at the Salzburg Festival, she sang one of her best roles in the opera Aida.
Two years ago, Anna married tenor Yusif Eyvazov and became very prettier in marriage with him. This is noted by Instagram users, discussing the new photos of the singer.
And scammers used the name of the star for their own selfish purposes. They posted on a specialized web resource an announcement about recruiting people for Netrebko’s new clip. And they took money for questionnaires that applicants were asked to send to the specified address. Netrebko’s team promptly responded to the fraud, and on her Instagram, Anna published a warning for her fans, and also said that she did not plan to shoot videos “in old age” at all.
eightSergei Bobrovsky
Field of activity: hockey
Income: 8.5 million dollars.
A new face in the ranking, he is the first and only of all Russian hockey players to receive the Vezina Trophy award as the best goaltender of the National Hockey League regular season (in 2013 and 2017).
Bobrovsky took part in the 2014 Winter Olympics as part of the Russian team, in the 2014-2015 World Championships. and was recognized as the best player of the Russian team in the semifinal match against the US team, and also became the silver medalist of the 2015 World Cup.
Currently, Sergei Bobrovsky is the goaltender of the Columbus Blue Jackets and his contract will run until the end of the 2024 season.
7Egor Creed
Field of activity: pop music
Income: 4 million dollars.
The most charming and attractive bachelor of the Russian stage has moved one position forward in the top ten stars of Russian sports, music and television.
Sberbank's advertising campaign aims to promote the youth card as one of the many things that the younger generation of Russians can say, "This is mine, this suits me."
6Evgeni Malkin
Field of activity: hockey
Income: 9.5 million dollars.
The center forward, who plays for the NHL club Pittsburgh Penguins and the Russian national team, has added four points in the 2024 all-star top 10.
This year was very successful for Malkin. Together with his wife Anna Kasterova, the hockey player signed a personalized star for the Alley of Champions in Kuntsevo. Next to the star of Malkin are the stars of Pierre Richard, Antonio Banderas, Robert de Niro, Mila Jovovich, and many other world celebrities. And he also received the prestigious Kharlamov Trophy 2017 award, which the Soviet Sport edition awards to the best Russian hockey player of the season.
5Dima Bilan
Field of activity: pop music
Income: 6 million dollars.
The singer and Honored Artist of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria has improved his "indicators" in the ranking by eight points since last year. It was he, the first of the singers representing Russia, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. Fans are still wondering who the star's heart is occupied with, because Bilan is very sensitive to the secret of his personal life and does not give the yellow press reasons for scandals. Because of this, ill-wishers even suspected the singer of a “not such” orientation.
In 2017, Bilan suffered a serious illness - five hernias in the spine pinched the nerve and caused severe pain. Because of them, the artist lost a lot of weight (and this was immediately noted by the fans), but after undergoing treatment, he began to gain weight again.
4Timati
Field of activity: pop music
Income: 6.6 million dollars.
You can love rapper Timati, you can hate him. But one thing cannot be denied: he is a bright personality on the modern pop stage. He was a graduate of Star Factory 4, and now he is engaged in production activities, releases his own clothing line aimed at fans of hip-hop and r-n-bi, owns a burger on Novy Arbat in Moscow, and in 2017 performed on the New Wave ”, where, together with Philip Kirkorov, he performed the composition “Last Spring”.
The rapper has a new show program "Generation" planned for November of this year, and the first city where its presentation will take place will be Voronezh. The artist's concert is scheduled for November 26 at the Event-Hall in the Grad city park.
In last year's list of the brightest sports and show business stars in Russia, Timati took only 11th place.
3Grigory Leps
Field of activity: pop music
Income: 6 million dollars.
The author of the hit "Women Like Me" and a mentor in the show "Voice" is the only person in the top 10 highest paid Russian celebrities of 2017 who has not added, but decreased one point since last year. However, this is unlikely to greatly upset Leps, who is now busy with an anniversary tour called “#YouCheSoSerious”. It is dedicated to the 55th anniversary of the singer.
Leps has a special, "growling" voice timbre. He performs, in his own words, pop songs "with elements of chanson and rock." There are also purely chanson songs in the artist’s piggy bank, but at the moment they are “uninteresting” to him.
2Philip Kirkorov
Field of activity: pop music
Income: 7.4 million dollars.
The Bulgarian king of Russian pop music added two points in a year. Five times in a row, he was awarded the World Music Awards as the most popular performer in Russia, and received the Ovation award eight times. But times are changing and the younger generation of Kirkorovs has grown up - five-year-old Alla-Victoria and Martin. On the stage of the "New Wave" in Sochi, they made their debut with the song "My Bunny", making a real sensation in the hall. So you don't have to worry about the future of the musical dynasty.
oneAlexander Ovechkin
Field of activity: hockey
Income: 14 million dollars.
The leader of the selection of the richest and most famous athletes and show businessmen was the famous Russian hockey player and the future face of the Papa John's pizzeria chain in Russia. Since 2016, he has climbed four rungs up the ladder of fame and fortune. As part of an advertising campaign that could cost PJ Western several million dollars annually, Ovechkin will appear in videos dedicated to the pizzeria and will take part in photo shoots and webcasts. As for the main occupation, here the athlete is doing well. He serves as the captain of the NHL's Washington Capitals and is already training hard on the ice before the start of the preseason to remain an effective player.
However, contrary to the hockey player's earlier statements that he would go to the 2017 Olympics and help the Russian team, information appeared in the media that Ovechkin would not participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics. This is due to the corresponding ban of the International Ice Hockey Federation, it applies to all NHL players, including those from the Washington Capitals. Well, now all claims to the American bureaucrats.
