why do celebrities make so much money

[ellie]

I'm just wondering why celebrities make so much money, especially the young ones who seem underserving of such fortunes.

Is it their drive, deserving?

Also how come a lot of people that are well off say "money was never important to them". Is that the secret to becoming wealthy, not caring?

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by ellie

I'm just wondering why celebrities make so much money, especially the young ones who seem underserving of such fortunes.

Is it their drive, deserving?

Also how come a lot of people that are well off say "money was never important to them". Is that the secret to becoming wealthy, not caring?

I could not tell you why celebrities make so much money... but, I do know a bit about money...

If your primal goal is to make money... chances are that you will not make much... however, if you intention is to create something that is larger than you... and you do it with enthusiasm and passion... chances are that you will make a ton of money...

Bill Gates did not set out to make money... he wanted to create an operating system for PC that would be easy to use...

Donald Trump wants to create a statement... Tony Robbins to help people... etc...

You want to make money... find a cause and give it all you've got... and you'll make money...
.

[jamestl2]

It has to do with the society we live in. Movies, music, etc. are in high demand, and there are plenty of people more than willing to pay hard earned money (or their parents' money ) to see what they want to watch or listen to whatever the latest music trend is.

[Christian223]

I learned something by personal experience, i work as a graphic designer, this is what i learned:

I can work very hard for very little.
I can work very tittle for very little.
I can work very hard for very much.
I can work very little for very much.

All this things can happen, you just have to do the right thing to end there.

I think its all about taking/looking for chances/oportunities and the nature of the job you choose, because there are jobs that wont make you much money, there are other jobs that put yourself in a unique position, actors are put in that unique position and so their value raises very much. Thats it, beign a popular actor guarantees much money, its the nature of the job, its like asking "what makes more money? selling fruits or selling diamonds?".

I have a little theory that might be wrong, beign a celebrity is an industry that isnt necesarily focused on talent or technical skill, but its based on cultural/social values, if a celebrity matches some of those values, he/she aquires value because he/she becomes a representation of the valuable things in society/cuture, so people with money will invest in this celebrity because in this way they can offer this valuable person to society in hopes of making much more money, just as if they where offering a very valuable and usefull product. I might be wrong though.

[ellie]

Originally Posted by Shamou

You want to make money... find a cause and give it all you've got... and you'll make money...
.

I think this is the problem with me, is that I do want to make money, because I feel it will make my future more secure and even happier. I find it hard to believe money can't make you a litlte bit more happier. Maybe not with every aspect of your life, but it does offer you some form of relief.

I have to say I am always thinking about money and how if I had a lot it would make life easier for me and it would allow me to help people in my life that I want to help and make feel at ease.

I guess I brought up the celebrity thing because it's so frustrating to see young actors making millions of dollars and still wasting their life away with drugs and atempted suicide. Give me the money and I will use it wisely and to actually help people that are deserving

[Addict]

Also how come a lot of people that are well off say "money was never important to them". Is that the secret to becoming wealthy, not caring?

Like sleep, money is only a big deal when you don't have it. Most celebrities have no idea how the real world works and they really have no idea what poverty is like.

I would definitely not say the secret to becoming wealthy is to not care. Not caring can offer you advantages, however. You're less likely to do things that are unethical for money. You're less likely to 'sell out' and you will get a certain reputation for not being so commercial, which can help you in a lot of fields. And if doing what you're passionate about and making money are mutually exclusive for you, then yea not caring so much about money and instead doing what you love is actually more likely to make you wealthy.

The reason celebrities become so wealthy when they are undeserving is that we value celebrities so much. Our culture obsesses over them. It's kind of strange and disturbing. We obsess over celebrities even though they aren't great people, nor do they often provide very much value for anyone. That's the problem in my opinion.

[openeyes]

Leverage. Rather than performing for a few dozen ordinary people, millions watch them, creating major advertising revenue, ticket sales, branding and so on. It's the beauty of mass consumption. Rather than having each town exclusively focus on its own games, stories and music, the creations of a small group of people are broadcast worldwide. How well something/someone is promoted can make a huge difference, with people who seem to have little right to call themselves musicians making millions while others with incredible skill remain near the poverty line.

[Tristan]

Openeyes couldn't be more right on with this one and I'll add my perspectives....

A celebrity as a person does not make any money. For any given actor or actress, there are thousands of people out there who are just as (or sometimes more) talented, beautiful, fit, etc.

The difference is that celebrities own PLATFORMS......repeat this in your mind if you ever have ambitions to be a public speaker, author, or future celebrity. and the law goes as follows: Money flows to those who hold the largest platforms.

Platforms are the reason why the "not so bright" celebrity who has trouble spelling their own names correctly can land a million-dollar book deal, while the super smart Ph.D struggles with publishers to accept his/her book, which in terms of value is magnitudes beyond the celebrity book.

Publishers, whether in print or on film buy platforms, not books or acting. It's for this reason that Steve Pavlina can be considered a very big celebrity by comparison.....look at the platform that he owns.

[Doku]

Originally Posted by ellie

Also how come a lot of people that are well off say "money was never important to them". Is that the secret to becoming wealthy, not caring?

Not quite. The secret is not caring what others think, and not having to have the best. Buy a used car instead of new, and save a few $k. Buy a toyota/honda instead of mercedes/bmw, and save a few more $k. Buy a cell phone that works, and get a new one when the old one dies... not when some new bells and whistles hit that you "have to have", and save more $. Buy a new pair of shoes when the current ones wear out, not when the next cool "Air Jordans" hit the stores. Borrow DVDs from the library instead of going to the movies.

Most people who look like they are rich, are not. Most people who are rich look like they are not.
It's a simple matter of choice: Would you rather LOOK rich, or BE rich? (and if you BE rich long enough you can LOOK rich as well without too much real impact on your finances)

[Old Soul]

because of the demand....

as long as people are oogling and screaming for autographs, making headlines
causing attention you can charge whatever you want...........

the more you want of these people, the more they can charge for their services as an actor or actress.... the mangers and the media are a huge asset to their careers,

although not neccesarily their personal lives......... but for that kind of cash flow I am sure they overlook it all

[Lychee]

The public is preoccupied with worldly things, so anything pertaining to material existence will flourish.

[JohnB23]

It's just simple supply and demand IMO.

Julia Roberts could perform for 30 people at a school play (at $10 a ticket) and never make anything.

Celebrities have an audience of a 100 million movie goers or whatever the audience is. Distribution makes them their fortune. Not necessarily "talent".

And then once they've got a brand or a "name", then they leverage that into clothing, restaurants, endorsements.

I'd also be careful about associating celebrities with "success". I think alot of their success is overhyped. Alot of movies put out are horrible...they ride on the strength of the actors brand or the strength of a movie franchise. But they're not good products by themselves.

[RT Wolf]

Celebrities make so much money because it is essentially a tournament and to the victors got the spoils. That's part of the economic fact because we're in a hit-driven culture (at least until the democratization process started by the internet is complete). The democratization is happening in music already, whereas before you had to either be the best or nothing, now you can find smaller niches in which you could do just fine. Read The Long Tail and Freakonomics for some interesting perspectives on this. It's also a part of 80/20 rule, the top 5% of books make 85% of the sales, if I recall correctly because of the way the system is necesssarily setup. Read The Long Tail about this, again.

Now, as time goes on, fewer and fewer celebrities will hold as much staying power because consumers that demand more customized products actually have a chance at having their demand fulfilled and it is still economically viable. That's because the means of both production and distribution are becoming cheaper (as technology gets better and as the internet becomes an even stronger distribution force--itunes anyone?).

That's the economic perspective. Others have hit on sociological/cultural perspectives (as that celebrities fit an archetype).