Celebrity top 10

1. Tom Cruise 2. Tiger Woods 3. The Beatles 4. Britney Spears 5. Bruce Willis 6. Michael Jordan 7. Backstreet Boys 8. 'N Sync 9. Oprah Winfrey 10. Mel Gibson

Second on the list was golfer Tiger Woods, who was followed by The Beatles.

Last year's number one, Julia Roberts, dropped to number 16 with earnings of $18.9m (�14m).

Forbes ranks people by combining earning power and star power - including press clippings, TV and radio appearances, magazine cover stories and web hits.

Cruise, 38, jumped to the number one position from 20th place in 2000.

The actor rated 13th overall in wealth but crucially featured in 11 magazine cover stories.

The Beatles still top of the pops

His recent break-up with actress wife Nicole Kidman added to his "power" rating because of the subsequent media coverage.

Tiger Woods earned $53m (�36m) last year, but had only five magazine covers.

The Beatles may have split up three decades ago but their recent world best-selling album 1 has guaranteed heightened interest.

For example, The Fab Four totted up around 1.43 million mentions on websites last year.

Elsewhere in the top 10 were three pop sensations: Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync.

Spears: One of three teen favourites in top 10

Actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, who recently had a simultaneous number one movie and album in the US, appears on the list for the first time.

Other newcomers are Hollywood actor Ben Affleck and Friends actresses Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette and Lisa Kudrow.