Calvin Harris, David Guetta and ZEDD amongst the world's highest paid DJs

Calvin Harris earned $3 million less this year.

Calvin Harris/David Guetta/ZEDD
Published 16th Aug 2016

Despite a rough year including a car crash and a very public breakup from Taylor Swift, British DJ Calvin Harris has topped the Forbes' list of Electronic Cash Kings 2016.

The 'Summer' DJ earned $63 million over the past year. Although he saw a dip of $3 million compared to last year, it barely made a dent in the massive lead he has over second place Tiesto, who earned $38 million.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, has topped the list of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) DJs, with much of his earnings coming from his Las Vegas residency where he earns around $400,000 per gig.

The list also includes French DJ David Guetta who opened and closed Euro 2016, along with Russian DJ ZEDD who rose of mainstream fame in 2012 with his single 'Clarity' and in 2013 with his number two hit 'Stay the Night' with Hayley Williams.

Rank Name Earnings 1 Calvin Harris $63 million 2 Tiesto $38 million 3 David Guetta $28 million 4 ZEDD $24.5 million 5 Steve Aoki $23.5 million 6 Diplo $23 million 7 Skrillex $20 million 8 Kaskade $19 million 9 Martin Garrix $16 million 10 Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike $15.5 million Avicii, who is due to retire at the end of the this month, misses out on the top ten being listed as number 12 earning $14.5 million.