CelebrityNetWorth

CelebrityNetWorth creates web pages that list a celebrity's name, biography, and estimates of net worth and salary. The site calculates net worth by "applying a proprietary algorithm" based on publicly available information and using financial analysts to review such results.

Warner has said of their estimates that "If we end up too far off, there is always some kind of backlash. There have been a handful cases when we’ve been proved to be off, and we’ve corrected it."[5]

The site provides news articles on financial transactions of celebrities such as the purchase of a home or lawsuits.[2]

CelebrityNetWorth creates lists ranking wealthy individuals based upon their wealth. In 2012 the company compiled a list of the 25 richest people in history, adjusted for inflation, naming King Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire at the top of the list.[6][7][8][9] That same year, it created a list of the world's richest DJs,[10] and a survey which named Ringo Starr as the world's richest drummer.[11]

In 2014, Google requested permission from Warner to include CelebrityNetWorth's data in its Knowledge Graph. Warner declined. However, in February 2016, Google began using information from its search index of CelebrityNetWorth to display featured snippets with net worths at the top of their search result pages for relevant queries. The featured snippets were positioned above the search results, including results for CelebrityNetWorth. As a result, CelebrityNetWorth's web traffic declined by 65 percent from January 2016 to January 2017.[3]

In July 2019 CelebrityNetWorth was asked to submit on-the-record testimony to the House Subcommittee on Antitrust as part of its investigation into Google's anti-competitive behavior. The testimony provided a timeline detailing Google's encroachment into CelebrityNetWorth's business through the use of scraped content and "Featured Snippet" answer boxes. The testimony made three primary arguments; 1) That Google used its market power as a monopoly to benefit itself while hurting competitors; 2) That Google's actions have had negative impacts on the open internet; and 3) That these actions harm everyday Internet consumers.[12]