Dead or alive, Michael Jackson remains the king of pop earners for the second year in a row according to Forbes new list of highest-earning dead celebrities.
Last March, his estate took in $750 million from the sale of the late star’s half of the Sony/ATV music publishing catalogue, which is most famous for its library of Beatles’ tunes.
Jackson’s total pre-tax takings of $825 million gives s him the biggest annual pay day of any celebrity - living or dead.
Jeff Jampol, the manager of the estates of Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, said: “He was always doing stuff that was the best, the greatest, the biggest,” That was a big fight when he wanted to buy that catalogue … it turned out to be one of the greatest investments ever.”
Late cartoonist Charles Schulz of Charlie Brown fame isn’t exactly making peanuts either; he’s in second place on the Forbes list having made $48 million over the past year.
He died in 2000 but continues to be a huge earner with the enduring popularity of his comic strip Peanuts. Last year, his takings were given a huge boost with the success of the 3-D Peanuts movie.
Coming in well above par is golf legend Arnold Palmer, who died in September, with earnings of $40 million.
Sadly missed music superstars Prince and David Bowie also figure on the new rich list from Forbes. Prince, who died last April, was grossing nearly $2 million per show and he also sold over 2.5 million albums over the past year.
Bowie is at No 4 with $27m on the list with his final album Blackstar helping him outsell Jackson and Elvis Presley in the past 12 months.
