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Michael Jackson Leads Forbes List Of The Top-Earning Deceased Celebrities

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Michael Jackson Leads our List Of The Top-Earning Dead Celebrities
Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes Staff | 10/23/2013 @ 9:56AM


Michael Jackson The King of Pop reclaims his postmortem cash crown after ceding it last year to pal Elizabeth Taylor. He earned the bulk of his bucks from two Cirque du Soleil shows, his Mijac Music catalog, recorded music sales and his half of the Sony/ATV publishing empire—which includes the copyright to hits by the Beatles, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Taylor Swift, among others.

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Madonna was the top earner on our recent Celebrity 100 list, raking in $125 million between June 2012 and June 2013. Not bad for a living person. Her late buddy Michael Jackson easily topped her though, earning $160 million over the past year by our estimate. It’s the third time in the past five years that the top-earning celebrity in the world has come from the graveyard.

Much of Jackson’s money comes from two Cirque du Soleil shows. Immortal, a touring show, has grossed over $300 million since opening last year. One, which opened at the Mandalay Bay in May, is routinely sold out. Both shows feature the usual Cirque du Soleil acrobatics but One comes with a bonus: a hologram-like illusion of Jackson performs “Man in the Mirror” at the end of the show. (For more on Jackson’s new show read Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s story here.)


The King of Pop also still earns from his music and his half of the Sony/ATV catalog, which includes hits by The Beatles, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift among others.

Jackson reclaims the No. 1 spot on our list from his friend Elizabeth Taylor. The movie star, who passed away in 2011, earned an estimated $210 million in the 12 months to October 2012 thanks to a series of lucrative auctions at Christie’s of Taylor’s art, jewels and clothes. This year her earnings dropped to an estimated $25 million, landing her in fourth place.

Over the past 12 months, the star’s estate earned big bucks from her White Diamonds perfume, which in 2012 brought in $53 million in retail in the U.S. alone, according to Euromonitor International, her rights in old movies and her smart stock and real estate investments. Taylor’s estate, now represented by Hollywood talent agency UTA, is at work on several licensing deals. Expect to see Taylor’s name on high-end clothing and cosmetics in the near future.

Our list looks at earnings between October 2012 and October 2013. We count money coming into the estate and we don’t deduct for how the estate handles it. To come up with our estimates we talk to estate managers, licensors and lawyers involved in the dead celebrity business.

Ranking second on our list is Elvis Presley with an estimated $55 million in posthumous earnings. The King of Rock n’ Roll may have taken a back seat to the King of Pop, but his estate is still earning steadily thanks to his eternally popular image and his famous home, Graceland. That was enough to convince billionaire Leon Black and his firm, Apollo Global Management, to buy CKX, the parent company of American Idol and the estates of both Elvis and Muhammad Ali, for $509 million in 2011

Peanuts creator Charles Schulz ranks fourth for the second year in a row with $37 million. The Peanuts are still big but Iconix, which now runs the Peanuts license, thinks they could be even bigger. A new movie, starring the whole gang, is in the works at Fox.

Rounding out our top five is Bob Marley with $18 million. The iconic reggae singer might find it strange that his name has become part of a capitalist enterprise. There are Bob Marley speakers and messenger bags as well as a line of Bob Marley drinks that come in “mellow mood” and “one drop” (A.K.A. coffee).

New to our list this year is Jenni Rivera. The Mexican-American singer perished in a plane crash last December; since then, she has sold over 880,000 records, nearly as many she did in her life. Her postmortem earnings are boosted by the reality show I Love Jenni, which reached an audience of 5.5 million in its third and final season, and her autobiography Unbreakable: My Story, My Way, which has moved over 400,000 copies since its release in July.

[video=youtube_share;awMNhBKbPvg]http://youtu.be/awMNhBKbPvg[/video]


Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothy...our-list-of-the-top-earning-dead-celebrities/
 
Re: Michael Jackson Top-Earning Forbes Dead Celebrity List 2013 - $160m

Slay on MJ!!
 
Re: Michael Jackson Top-Earning Forbes Dead Celebrity List 2013 - $160m

So he's basically the top earning celebrity dead or alive as he earned more than Madonna who tops the list of living celebs.
 
Re: Michael Jackson Top-Earning Forbes Dead Celebrity List 2013 - $160m

Okay MJ! albeit a list I rather he was not on, as I prefer him living, but great to see that his Estate is thriving so well.
 
Re: Michael Jackson Top-Earning Forbes Dead Celebrity List 2013 - $160m

:( Wish he was here to be on Top Living Celebs list.
 
Michael Jackson Songs Still Top Sellers Four Years After His Death

Michael Jackson’s songs are top sellers even today, and the King of Pop has been dead for four years. That says something about how entertaining the musician is.

Of course the second best seller, Elvis Presley, has been dead a lot longer, and both are such beloved singers that conspiracy theorists still try to prove they’re alive and just hiding. This even made it into a movie, Men in Black, where Tommy Lee Jones tells Will Smith, “Elvis is not dead, he just went home.”

Michael Jackson is undoubtedly the greatest entertainer of our time, if the numbers say anything about him. Starting out in one of the first successful boy bands, Michael Jackson was the lead singer for the Jackson Five, alongside Marlon, Tito, Jermaine, and Jackie. The fame created from this group went on to spawn the bad boy image that made Michael Jackson a phenomenon. Even his sister Janet Jackson got launched partly due to being related to him, and partly because she was just as talented.

Michael Jackson songs, top sellers even back then, were considered the turning point of attitude in pop music, adding a rock-style beat to the whole genre which several others copied. With his style and over the top music videos, the King of Pop quickly grew to be a legend, even sharing the spotlight on such songs as “We Are the World” and the Eddie Murphy collaboration “Whatzupwitu.” The latter of these ended up being one of the few low points in Michael Jackson’s career.

Yes, Michael Jackson’s career reached an all-time low in the midst of accusations of molestation, but that had nothing to do with his music, and his millions of die-hard fans are more than willing to look past it and tell others to do the same.

The King of Pop’s music ranged everywhere from hard and fast like “Smooth Criminal,” to soft, melodic and thought provoking songs like “Heal the World.” You can’t deny his influence on music today across the board, and Michael Jackson‘s songs continue to be best sellers four years after his death.

At $160 million this year, Michael Jackson outperformed even the most prominent artists today, much of it coming from Cirque du Soleil shows. One of those shows even features a hologram performance of Michael Jackson performing “Man in the Mirror.” This year he reclaimed the top spot held by Elizabeth Taylor among the dead celebrities still earning the big bucks.

Make fun all you like, but chances are, you will probably never make enough money doing music to outdo Michael Jackson, whose songs are top sellers four years after his death.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1003762/michael-jackson-songs-top-sellers-after-death/#7xKC6L2pZLjGCXZL.99
 
So the King is back where he belongs! :) Although I don’t mind that Elizabeth took the number 1 spot last year, she’s great and Michael loved her. It’s really impressive how much money Michael can still make! The difference between him and the second best earning celebrity on that list is huge, and it's amazing that he can make even more money than any living celebrity!
 
Re: Michael Jackson Top-Earning Forbes Dead Celebrity List 2013 - $160m

That is quite an achievement. One that may never be topped.
 
Re: Michael Jackson Top-Earning Forbes Dead Celebrity List 2013 - $160m

God bless his soul
 
Yes, Michael Jackson’s career reached an all-time low in the midst of accusations of molestation, but that had nothing to do with his music, and his millions of die-hard fans are more than willing to look past it and tell others to do the same.
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:mat: Clueless idiot who wrote this part! We hardly look past that, we fight hard to make sure people don't buy into the lie that he molested anyone and provide facts to back it up!
 
I am delighted that MJ is top of earnings long may it last. Elizabeth Taylor topped MJ last year,but it . was not due to her talent. Jewels she was given, some of it by MJ and her perfume which she didn't make with her own hands. She was not, in my opinion, a great actress.
 
He was and continues being the best. This is the result of his artistry and the work of the executors of his estate. Very well done.
 
Can you imagine if they were to open up Neverland as a museum what a phenomenal achievement that would be. MJ would be top of the earnings for all time. But the "horsey bigots" in that area would not allow it I suspect
 
knowle said:
Can you imagine if they were to open up Neverland as a museum what a phenomenal achievement that would be. MJ would be top of the earnings for all time. But the "horsey bigots" in that area would not allow it I suspect
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That would be my dream come true :pray:
 
well the "bigots" in the area do not have the same type of power and financial support to stop it from happening. The thing is those who live in that area actually thinks highly about Michael. The towns people have only good stories to share about him, and I don't think anyone would try to prevent something like that which would end up helping economic growth for that town.

It was the D.A. and his team alone that were more so the bigots, The people of that area are the "bigots" that freed his name in the court of law. Tom Sneddon is gone now and even if his people still have pull, I don't think they are stupid enough to get there name attached to Michael again in a negitive light.
 
KOPV said:
well the "bigots" in the area do not have the same type of power and financial support to stop it from happening. The thing is those who live in that area actually thinks highly about Michael. The towns people have only good stories to share about him, and I don't think anyone would try to prevent something like that which would end up helping economic growth for that town.

It was the D.A. and his team alone that were more so the bigots, The people of that area are the "bigots" that freed his name in the court of law. Tom Sneddon is gone now and even if his people still have pull, I don't think they are stupid enough to get there name attached to Michael again in a negitive light.
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The locals already moved to prevent Neverland being opened as a tourist attraction. They don't want an influx of tourists to the area and I can understand why.
 
^Yes me too, esp if the infrastructure just isn't there for all the traffic. Agree with kopv, really unfair to call mj's neighbours bigots. As tmez found when he visited there before the trial, mj's neighbours thought highly of him and he was well liked in the community.
 
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