Writer JK Rowling is the highest paid celebrity in Europe – she also earned more than any other writer in the world this year.
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Rowling raked in $95 million, with half of the money coming from her latest venture – the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The script sold 1.3 million copies in 2016 and the stage show has been presented in London and New York.
The top earning European celebrities grossed just over $1 billion before tax and other expenses, such as management fees.
Only eight of the 20 are from outside Britain, and 10 of the top 12 are British.
Coldplay beat Adele by $12m
The two most popular businesses for millionaire celebrities are sport and music, with 10 of the latest listing earning their millions from F1, tennis, football, golf and fighting. Seven saw their money come from music.
Surprisingly, group Coldplay, fronted by Chris Martin, beat Adele by $19 million as Britain and Europe’s top grossing music act.
Rowling and Adele are the only women in the list.
Missing from the listing this year are the Rolling Stones, U2 and One Direction. All lost their shine as top grossing acts in 2016.
Cage fighter McGregor is likely to rank highly next year after grossing tens of millions for his fight with boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, which was too late in the year to be included in the listings.
Top earning European celebrities 2017
| Rank | Celebrity | Country | Field | Earnings in 2016 |
| 1 | JK Rowling | UK | Writer | $95 million |
| 2 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | Football | $93 million |
| 3 | Coldplay | UK | Music | $88 million |
| 4 | Adele | UK | Music | $69 million |
| 5 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | Tennis | $64 million |
| 6 | Gordon Ramsey | UK | Food | $60 million |
| 7 | Elton John | UK | Music | $60 million |
| 8 | Paul McCartney | UK | Music | $54 million |
| 9 | Rory McIlroy | UK | Golf | $50 million |
| 10 | Calvin Harris | UK | Music | $48.5 million |
| 11 | Lewis Hamilton | UK | F1 | $46 million |
| 12 | Simon Cowell | UK | Entertainment | $43.5 million |
| 13 | Tiesto | Netherlands | Music | $39 million |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Germany | F1 | $38.5 million |
| 15 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | Tennis | $37.6 million |
| 16 | Ed Sheeran | UK | Music | $37 million |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | Spain | F1 | $36 million |
| 18 | Gareth Bale | UK | Football | $34 million |
| 19 | Conor McGregor | Ireland | Sport | $34 million |
| 20 | Zlatan Ibrahimovic | Sweden | Football | $32 million |
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