Recently, David Cooperfield has been ranked as the highest-paid magician with $64M record high.
Over the course of David Copperfield's four-decade career, the famed illusionist has walked through the Great Wall of China, levitated over the Grand Canyon and made the Statue of Liberty disappear. His greatest recent feat: pulling $64 million pretax out of his proverbial hat over the past year-and earning the top spot on our resurrected list of the world's highest-paid magicians.
Now in his seventeenth year in Las Vegas, the sixty-year-old performed an astounding 638 shows at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in our scoring period. Copperfield also minted millions from corporate gigs as well as exclusive tours and concerts on Musha Cay, one of his 11 private Bahamian islands. In 2013 FORBES estimated his net worth at $800 million, making Copperfield the most commercially successful magician in history.
"It's not just tricks," Copperfield told FORBES in 2013. "Secrets and lots of hard work go into this."
Penn & Teller rank second with earnings of $31.5 million, thanks to their Las Vegas residency at the Rio. In 2015 the duo also worked their magic on Broadway for six weeks. Their CW show Fool Us, hosted by Alyson Hannigan, was recently renewed for a fourth season.
While most people give up on magic tricks when they hit puberty, the fortunate few who persevere can wind up on a lucrative career path.
While Copperfield, a famed American illusionist, made an estimated $64m (£52m) in 2016, Johnson earned $64.5m (£53m) and Modern Family actress Vergara earned $43m (£35m) in the same period.
The Magician Copperfield, who has walked through the Great Wall of China, made the Statue of Liberty disappear and levitated over the Grand Canyon, is a near-billionaire. Forbes estimated his net worth at $800m (£654m) in 2013 and estimates him to be the most commercially successful magician in history.
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