Jerry Seinfeld remains the world’s highest-paid comedian
Apparently staying even Steven despite losing all that college campus and lemonade stand money, Jerry Seinfeld has been named the world’s highest-paid comedian by Forbes for the fourth time so far. The former cartoon bee made $36 million over the last year, including revenues from his ongoing stand-up tours, his Crackle series Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, and a massive deal to put the entirety of his landmark ’90s sitcom on Hulu.
Seinfeld was followed on the list by Kevin Hart, who supplemented a successful world tour with a number of film appearances, and Las Vegas-based impressionist Terry Fator. Jeff Dunham came in fourth, at $19 million, which might explain why he’s so aggressively protective of the designs for his coterie of foul-mouthed mittens.
Other notable names on the list include Louis C.K., whose biggest achievement might be his ability to continue projecting an air of everyman sad-sack charm while pulling in $9 million a year, and Aziz Ansari, at $9.5. Dave Chappelle also made this year’s list, pulling in $7.5 million despite the fact that he largely markets his tours by having the occasional well-examined public meltdown. (The uptick in people screaming “I’m rich, biatch!” at him after reading the Forbes list should keep his profits growing smoothly for at least the next few quarters.)