George Clooney and The Rock Top Forbes’ Annual Highest-Paid Actors List

George Clooney’s $1 billion sale of his Casamigos Tequila company has earned him the top spot on Forbes’ 2018 list of top male actors.

According to Forbes, Clooney’s lucrative business deal with liquor giant Diageo netted him a “career high pre-tax paycheck” of $239 million. Trailing behind Clooney is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson ($119 million), Robert Downey Jr. ($79 million), Chris Hemsworth ($64.5 million), Jackie Chan ($45 million), and Will Smith ($42 million).

Forbes noted the list is based on each actor’s estimated pre-tax earnings between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018, and data from Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders.

In terms of the “most critical” factor for success, The Rock — who doubled his 2017 earnings — attributes his social media presence as the secret sauce to negotiating bigger movie deals for films such as the 2017 blockbuster “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.”

“Social media has become the most critical element of marketing a movie for me,” he told Forbes.“I have established social media equity with an audience around the world that there’s a value in what I’m delivering to them.”

Check out this year’s complete listing of Forbes’ Highest-Paid Actors Of 2018 below:

1.    George Clooney ($239 million)
2.    Dwayne Johnson ($119 million)
3.    Robert Downey Jr ($79 million)
4.    Chris Hemsworth ($64.5 million)
5.    Jackie Chan ($45.5 million)
6.    Will Smith  ($42 million)
7.    Akshay Kumar  ($40.5 million)
8.    Adam Sandler ($39.5 million)
9.    Chris Evans  ($34 million)
10.  Salman Khan  ($33.5 million)