The Forbes list of top 10 personalities is highly influenced by Bollywood celebrities. But three Indian cricketers have managed to make it to the list along with two actresses. India Test skipper Virat Kohli, who has been in brilliant form with the bat this year, holds the top position among the most powerful sports personalities of the year. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the current India’s limited-overs skipper, is second among the top 10 sports personalities of the year with Sachin Tendulkar being the third one. The ranking of all three in the list are third, fifth and seventh respectively.
The topper of the list is Bollywood’s bad boy Salman Khan whereas Shahrukh Khan gained the second spot. Kohli is at No. 3. His per annum earnings and a huge base of followers in social media has helped him make the cut in the Forbes list of Top 10.
Though Sachin Tendulkar has retired from the beautiful game of cricket, his brand value has earned him the 7th spot in the list.
The parameters which have been taken into consideration while selecting the list have been the per annum earnings of the celebrities and their fame on social media.
The time period taken into account was between October 1, 2015 to September 30,2016.
For each celebrity, Forbes receives facts and information from industry insiders, talent management agencies, film and TV production companies, publishers, music industry professionals, sports consultants, advertising agencies, brand markets, celebrity managers and from the relevant experts. They also track the social media fame of each celebrity which helps them reach a conclusion regarding the rank of celebrities.
List for the most famous Indian celebrities of 2016
| Name | Rank |
| Virat Kohli | 1 |
| Salman Khan | 2 |
| Shah Rukh Khan | 3 |
| MS Dhoni | 4 |
| Amitabh Bachchan | 5 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 6 |
| Kapil Sharma | 7 |
| Deepika Padukone | 8 |
| Priyanka Chopra | 9 |
| Aamir Khan |
The richest Indian celebrities of 2016
| Name | Rank | Amount |
| Salman Khan | 1 | Rs.270.33 crore |
| Shah Rukh Khan | 2 | Rs.221.75 crore |
| Akshay Kumar | 3 | Rs. 203.3 crore |
| Virat Kohli | 4 | Rs.134.44 crore |
| MS Dhoni | 5 | Rs.122.48 crore |