Sofia Vergara May Be Highest Paid Actress But Few Latinos Roles on TV

Jul 19, 2012

"Modern Family" actress Sofia Vergara is the highest-earning woman in U.S. television, taking in $19 million for the past 12 months on a list released by Forbes.com on Wednesday. The Colombian-born Vergara took the No. 1 spot on the Forbes list thanks to her Emmy Award-winning role on "Modern Family," her clothing line with K-Mart and her partnership role in an entertainment company that Forbes says "was poised to become a new media powerhouse." A bit more from Forbes.com story ["Sofia Vergara’s Rich Little Secret: A Multi Million Media Empire:"](http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/07/18/sofia-vergaras-rich-little-secret-a-multi-million-media-empire/) > Thanks to her Emmy Award-winning ABC sitcom (which averages 12 million viewers an episode in its third season), a clothing line and endorsement deals, FORBES estimates the Colombian-born star made $19 million over the past 12 months from her fame, making her the top-earning actress on U.S. television. > > There’s more, though. With little fanfare outside the insular Latino media community, for 16 years she and partner Luis Balaguer have shrewdly built up their company, Latin World Entertainment, from a Miami talent-management firm into a licensing, marketing, production and new-media powerhouse. A source inside the firm pegs 2011 revenues at $27 million–with a healthy profit margin near 20%. Clients include Disney and Paramount; their YouTube channel, NuevOn, premiered in April and immediately sold out ad inventory to Procter & Gamble through 2013. > Don’t confuse the state of Vergara’s success with that of the number of Latino actors on television. According to the latest numbers from the Screen Actors Guild less than 6% of lead roles go to Latino actors, compared to 74% for white actors. The number of Latinos is supporting roles is slightly better but still dismal at 7.4%.