Being the best

I was watching "4th and Long" last night, a show where amateurs try and land a spot on the Dallas Cowboys roster.
It occured to me how rare an occupation like that is. For example, in sports, there is natural talent of course, but there also has to be years and years of preparation. They have to pay their dues and there can then be a straight up competition to determine who is better than the other.
I have not been fortunate enough to have a career like that. Maybe I have been fortunate in not having a career like that. I like to consider myself a "winner" but it is hard to say that until one has won something.
In creating/writing, etc who would some of the "winners" be? I guess that would depend on how you keep score. You could keep score by pure literary skill. Then you can debate who writes better than someone else. I would not score this way. I would score by books sold or movie deals made or income.
I guess based on my own criteria, the winners list would look something like this:

JK Rowling
Stephen King
Stan Lee
George Lucas
Eastman and Laird
Todd McFarlane
Seth McFarlane
The Wachowski Brothers

That's a short list, but I would like to add "Green Gates" to it. I guess we need to score some points first.