Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan in world's highest paid actors list
New York, Aug 23 : Bollywood superstars Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan have secured a spot in Forbes magazine's World's Highest Paid Actors 2018 list, topped by Hollywood ace George Clooney.
Akshay, known lately for his socially conscious roles in films like "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" and "Pad Man", is in the seventh spot with earnings of $40.5 million between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018. He minted millions from backend profits and endorsing some 20 brands, including Tata and Eveready, Forbes said.
Salman also remains one of India's top earners with $38.5 million, with hits such as "Tiger Zinda Hai" and by cashing in on backend profits, coupled with a slew of endorsements from Suzuki motorcycles to Chlormint gum.
Clooney, 57, is at the top of the list with $239 million despite not having helmed a hit in years. His earnings are thanks to the up to $1 billion purchase of his Casamigos Tequila.
The list tallies both onscreen and extracurricular earnings in the 12-month scoring frame. Earning estimates are based on data from Nielsen, ComScore, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders. All figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted.
Dwayne ‘The Rock" Johnson banked $124 million pretax to rank number 2 in the highest paid actors list.
Rounding out the top three is Robert Downey Jr, who pocketed $81 million. His "Avengers: Infinity War" co-star Chris Hemsworth, with $64.5 million, scored a career best thanks to his cut from Marvel movies such as "Thor: Ragnarok".
China's top movie star Jackie Chan scored the fifth spot with $45.5 million, followed by Will Smith on number 6 with $42 million.
In the eighth position is Adam Sandler with $39.5 million, while Chris Evans completes the top 10 list with $34 million. Together, the world's ten highest paid actors tallied $748.5 million, before fees and taxes.
The salaries of top-earning male leads dwarf those of the world's highest paid actresses, who earned a cumulative $186 million in the same scoring period, or just one quarter of the men's earnings -- highlighting the gender pay gap issue that persists.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
