Perez Hilton Tops Forbes' Web Celeb 25 List

Jan. 30, 2009 — -- Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has spent the past four years parlaying his hugely popular gossip Web site into a radio show, regular TV appearances and, most recently, a book.

Up next: a bona fide media empire. "I want to be the gay, Latino Oprah," Hilton declares by phone from his Los Angeles home.

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Chasing that goal means brutally long days for 30-year-old Hilton, who ranks No. 1--for the second year running--on the Web Celeb 25, our annual listing of the Internet's most famous personalities.

Hilton has certainly worked hard for his fame. The blogger claims to be on the job from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m. working on his syndicated radio show, Radio Perez, and his eponymous site, where he uploads new posts approximately every 12.5 minutes.

This month's publication of Hilton's first book, Red Carpet Suicide: A Survival Guide on Keeping Up With the Hiltons, has kicked his schedule into overdrive. On this particular day, he is doing six phone interviews back-to-back, and his voice, while friendly, belies his exhaustion. "I can keep up the pace another two to three years but not forever," he admits.

While Hilton (his real name is Mario Lavandeira) skimps on sleep, he dreams up media projects. Despite the Oprah comparison, he isn't fixated on having a talk show (though he admits he'd love to do one, if offered). Instead, he wants to launch another Web site sometime this year and possibly another one in 2010. (Hilton declined to describe either site in detail.) He would also like to do another book, noting that the longer form shows people he "can write in full paragraphs."

Hilton has already leveraged his passion for music into a concert series. The events, which feature personal favorites like singer Katy Perry, have been held in New York, Liverpool, U.K., Toronto and Austin, Texas, and are marketed under the Perez Hilton brand. Hilton says he has contemplated other music industry gigs, such as producing. "I've never tried it, but I have opinions," he adds.