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U2

Despite their humanitarian profile U2 are very good at business. Music downloads earned them £6m on their back catalogue last year and they moved some of their operations to Holland, which has no tax on royalties, after Ireland capped such earnings. Billboard magazine ranked Paul Hewson (Bono), 46, Adam Clayton, 47, Dave Evans (the Edge), 45, and Larry Mullen, 45, as the world’s fourth-highest earning touring act last year, at £48m, while a greatest hits CD released at Christmas was a worldwide bestseller. They get a fifth of all sales, making their career earnings worth £487m, a sum shared equally with manager Paul McGuinness, 55. In a recent restructuring, however, U2 has begun to divide their operations between their respective families.