Those who would begrudge Michael Tilson Thomas's $2.5 million salary from the San Francisco Symphony (on top of significant income from his New World Symphony and dozens of guest-conducting gigs), should realize that it's just chump change against the income of the world's highest-paid conductor.
A report in the Russian edition of Forbes magazine says that for the first time a classical musician's salary exceeds those of pop musicians: "The largest revenue in the past year was to Valery Gergiev, artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater, who received an income of $16,500,000." [An awkward but accurate translation.]
True, he had to work for it: "In less than a year — between Dec. 21, 2012, and Nov. 13, 2013 — Gergiev will have led 211 concerts in Russia and abroad. Bachtrack has called Gergiev the most sought-after conductor in the world."