Viral Handsome Actors List: The Fortunes Behind the Faces

Good looks open doors; the people on this particular list kicked them down and bought the building. The viral “Top 20 Most Handsome Actors Worldwide” collage — freshly updated with Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe of Germany at No. 20 — happens to be stacked with some of the largest personal fortunes in entertainment.

The combined box-office gross of the men on this grid runs into the tens of billions — Cruise and Johnson alone account for a staggering share. Add Clooney’s spirits exit, Pitt’s production empire and Khan’s Bollywood billions, and the “handsome” ranking starts to look like a wealth ranking wearing a tuxedo. The prince at No. 20, with real estate and royal heritage in the mix, doesn’t lower the average.

Consider the money on this grid. Tom Cruise (No. 10) and Dwayne Johnson (No. 16) have each headlined franchises worth billions. Brad Pitt (No. 6) and George Clooney (No. 7) parlayed stardom into production companies and, in Clooney’s case, a nine-figure tequila exit. Leonardo DiCaprio (No. 11) commands top-of-market paydays. Shah Rukh Khan (No. 13) is routinely described as one of the wealthiest actors on the planet.

The ranking itself runs: Chris Hemsworth (No. 1, Australia), Henry Cavill (No. 2) and Robert Pattinson (No. 3) of the United Kingdom, Chris Evans (No. 4), Tom Holland (No. 5), then Pitt, Clooney, Jason Momoa (No. 8), Idris Elba (No. 9) and Cruise. DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan (No. 12), Khan, Hrithik Roshan (No. 14), Timothée Chalamet (No. 15), Johnson, Justin Timberlake (No. 17), Paul Rudd (No. 18) and Diego Luna (No. 19) fill out the ranks.

The new entry at No. 20 — Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, replacing Lee Min-ho of South Korea — brings actual royalty to a list of Hollywood royalty. The prince, a working royal and television host, fits right in among the moguls.

It’s a fan-made viral post, not a Forbes list — nobody audited anything. But as an (entirely unscientific) index of faces that print money, it’s remarkably on the nose:

Strip out the aesthetics and the list is a diversified portfolio: franchise leads, prestige dramatists, comedy stalwarts, music crossovers and now a royal — twenty different bets on what the public wants, all paying out. The market has spoken, or at least the internet has, and the market loves a handsome face attached to a serious career.