Money winners of 2008: Miley Cyrus, pop star phenomenon

Posted Dec 16th 2008 12:40PM by Gary Sattler
Filed under: Television, Competitive Strategy, Marketing and Advertising, Walt Disney (DIS)

This post is part of our feature on Money Winners of 2008. See all 20.

As far as pop star phenomenons go, Miley Cyrus, aka Destiny Hope Cyrus, certainly is one. At just 16 years of age, the bright personality of this moderately talented female offspring of Billy Ray Cyrus has been effectively parlayed into a several-million-dollar property by none other than media giant Disney (NYSE: DIS). She is being exploited in classic Hollywood style, right down to her "morning after" bed sheet clad, Vanity Fair photo shoot. Smile pretty baby, and say cha ching!

The question is, how much is Miley Cyrus really worth? With earnings of $25 million from June 2007 to June 2008, Cyrus is listed as #35 on the Forbes Celebrity 100. Somehow though, that figure seems just a bit misleading. With concert appearances that have tickets selling out in minutes, a hit television show, multiple albums, movie deals, guest appearances, and a host of other deals pending, it's virtually impossible to place a true monetary value on the girl. It is speculated that the Hannah Montana franchise, which features Miley Cyrus, will net Disney in excess of $1 billion. The Baltimore Sun recently reported that Miley Cyrus is currently out-earning names as big as Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston. Her concerts are reported to be out-drawing Bruce Springsteen. Who's the boss now, baby.

However, the possibility of a Miley Cyrus celebrity crash is what most internet paparazzi seem to find most compelling about the girl. There is a wide trail of foolishness that has been blazed in front of Miley Cyrus. It's the trail that Britney Spears is just coming back from. It's a trial that swallowed up the inheritance of Paris Hilton. It's the trail from which Lindsay Lohan might never escape. It's the same ugly trail that took away Dana Plato far too soon.

Yes, Miley Cyrus could have quite a lucrative future in front of her. That is, if the adults in her life can keep their heads on straight enough to correctly guide the girl. From the looks of it though, those prospects of adult responsibility aren't very promising at all. To me, the future for Destiny Hope Cyrus looks fairly shaky, unless you consider it to be all right for a 16-year-old girl to be out sluttin' it up with mommy in trailer trash style, and agree with her daddy's blessing on the rising young pop star's poor choices of boyfriends.

Be sure to check out more Money Winners of 2008.

Tags: Billy Ray Cyrus, Destiny Hope Cyrus, DIS, Disney, featured, Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus, Money Winners 2008

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-12-2008 @ 11:24AM

RedNeck00035 said...

I Agree she is getting out of control and dating much older men. She is a celebrity and a lot of girls look up to her and a million boy's love her. Billy Ray what kind of example are you letting Miley be, to your angel, Noah if she wants to be a singer. You got your work cut out for ya, Old Friend.

12-12-2008 @ 11:15AM

Stephyy said...

i love you mileyyyy =]

12-26-2008 @ 12:09PM

Nelly lonely said...

I luv Miley!And She is so cool!

12-29-2008 @ 11:23AM

kenny said...

at 16 and already a slut lol..

1-11-2009 @ 9:17PM

skyler smith said...

its in my opinoin that miley reputation as an innocent little girl is long gone her vanity fair scandal has things shaking i heard that many of her fans stopped watching the show because of her mistake. why would at the age of 15 0r 16 be in vanity fair, it makes no sense. she is worth aton of $, i man her franchise is worth a billion dollars, and i heard she has more than 68 million in the bak, so whats does a huge load of cash and being one of the biggest stars in the world right now, equal a soon to be out of control miley cyrus, her dadneeds to quit using her, she prolly pays his bills because she has way more money than he does, and the only resaon she became hannah montana was because she had a famous daddy, dont get me wrong i like miley but if she and her parents arecareful she will be the next britney or lindsay and we dont want that. i strongly admire hilary duff who at one point in time was very famous and doing excellent and she never went into rehab or was addicted to anything she never let that fame and cash and power go to her head, miley needs to become the next hilary insted of the bext bitney or whatever.