Michael Jackson’s estate certainly pulled in the money last year.
The late singer tops the Forbes Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities List again but this year with the amazing amount of $825 million. That is 3.3 times the total of the next twelve people on the list combined.
This is, actually, a one-time thing for Jackson. $750 million of that was for the sale of his share of Sony/ATV Publishing catalog, which includes the music of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Jackson paid $47.5 million for it back in 1985, an amount that most said was overinflated at the time, but it paid off in the end.
That would leave Jackson with “only” $75 million in income from other sources, still enough to put him at the top of the list. The late comic Charles Schulz (Peanuts) is second with $48 million and the recently deceased Arnold Palmer in third with $40 million.
Two others who died this year, both musicians, also make the list. Prince is fifth with $25 million and David Bowie is eleventh with $10.5 million.
The list:
Michael Jackson ($825 million)
Charles Schulz ($48 million)
Arnold Palmer ($40 million)
Elvis Presley ($27 million)
Prince ($25 million)
Bob Marley ($21 million)
Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel ($20 million)
John Lennon ($12 million)
Albert Einstein ($11.5 million)
Bettie Page ($11 million)
David Bowie ($10.5 million)
Steve McQueen ($9 million)
Elizabeth Taylor ($8 million)
