Although Forbes bumped Oprah Winfrey to second place in their 2009 Celebrity Power Rankings (behind Angeline Jolie), she is still untouchable when it comes to money-making. And this fall's introduction of the Oprah Winfrey Network will only increase her three-fold lead over runner-up, Dr. Phil. The complete list of top talk show earners, who raked in a total of nearly $600 million last year, after the jump.
Estimations for what the talking heads pulled in between June 1, 2008 and June 1, 2009 are as follows:
1. Oprah Winfrey, $275 million
2. Dr. Phil McGraw, $80 million
3. David Letterman, $45 million
4. Ellen Degeneres, $35 million
5. Jay Leno, $32 million
6. Tyra Banks, $30 million
7. Regis Philbin, $27 million
8. Rachael Ray/Conan O'Brien, $15 million (tie)
10. Jon Stewart, $14 million
ยท Oprah still TV's best-paid talk show host [Forbes]