Michael Jackson’s Still in the Money, Tops Forbes List of Highest-Paid Dead Celebs with $825 Million
Michael Jackson died seven years ago, but he is still making lots of money.
Forbes has named the late King Of Pop as the top-earning dead celebrity of 2016. He earned $825 million, partly due to his estate’s decision to sell his half-share of the Beatles catalogue to Sony for $750 million.
Michael purchased the rights to the Beatles’ music back in 1984 for $47.5 million and then sold 50 percent of it to Sony in 1995 for $115 million. His remaining share was sold to Sony in March of this year.
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz came in as a distant second, with earnings of $48 million. He died in 2000, but continues to rake in millions of dollars because of money from licensing.
Golfer Arnold Palmer died on September 25th at 87, and came in third on the list – but most of his $40 million in earnings were made while he was still alive.
Elvis Presley, who died at 42 years old back in 1977, is ranked number four with $27 million, while Prince – who passed away in April – is listed at number five with $25 million.
Bob Marley’s estate earned $21 million this year, 25 years after his death, and Dr. Seuss came in at number seven with $20 millio