Carrie Underwood, the Season Four winner tops the list with earnings of $20 million. The second-place spot was a tie between Season Seven runner up Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry (Season Five), who both toured over the past year, pulling in $6 million.
American Idol was ranked as the most successful money making U.S. TV show in 2010 by Forbes magazine and here it comes up with a list of the top 10 highest earning American Idol contestants.
The full Top 10 (12)
1. Carrie Underwood - $20 million
2. Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert - $6 million each
4. Fantasia Barrino - $4 million
5. Jordin Sparks - $3 million
6. Kelly Clarkson - $2.5 million
7. Jennifer Hudson - $2 million
8. Kellie Pickler - $1.8 million
9. Clay Aiken - $1.5 million
10. David Archuleta, David Cook, Katharine McPhee - $1 million each