The King of Pop continues his reign even beyond the grave.
That’s right, for the fourth straight year Michael Jackson has topped the annual list of “top-earning dead celebrities” – a feat that sees him surpass the earnings of fellow musical icons Elvis Presley, Prince, Whitney Houston, David Bowie, and more.
Ranking revenue generation for the 12 months preceding October 1, the tally sees Jackson make over 20x’s that of his nearest competitor on the list – ‘Peanuts’ creator Charles Schulz (who earned $48 million over the timeframe).
Keen to see how much the ‘Thriller’ icon’s estate made? Find out below:
Jackson, who died in 2009, raked in a bumper $825m in earnings for the 12 months ending 1 October, according to estimates from Forbes. That came mostly from the Jackson estate’s $750m sale of the late singer’s remaining stake in the Sony/ATV music publishing catalog – which includes the rights to many Beatles songs – to Sony Corporation.
Sales of Prince albums soared after the musician died of an accidental drug overdose in April. Forbes ranked him in fifth place overall with estimated earnings of $25m, just below Elvis Presley, with $27m.
Bowie, whose surprise death of cancer in January came days after a new album release, outsold both Presley and Jackson in albums and singles in 2016, but the British singer’s overall estimated earnings were a comparatively small $10.5m, Forbes said.
Damn. KING
Legend!!!
Even in the afterlife the King Of Pop is slaying.
QOAUZBZVSGSIAS WHAT KIND OF LEGENDARY ESTATE!?!?!?!? THE BEATLES ARE SHOOK!!!
? KING!
Well duh! Michael Jackson is the greatest entertainer of all time! Of all time!
He was also a savvy business man since most of the money came from the estate selling the rights he previously owned for his and the Beatles music.
Who’s surprised….He’s MICHAEL JACKSON!!!
Probably the Estate of Prince
There will never be another like MJ, Prince or Bowie. Each are legends in their own right.
Dang KING OF POP
Slayed without a STADIUM TOUR…. FORMAT THAT!
Omgggggg ????? What a failed ass attempt at shading Beyoncé.
And for the record, majority of his adult career he performed in stadiums. Please go drink bleach.
#SlayKingMJ
LMAO…
Stole a few of his outfits
I’m still upset that Sony got a hold of his share. That’s what they wanted all along with they punk asses. You mean to tell me that in less than ten years after his death they got exactly what he didn’t want them to have? Tuh.
I totally agree. Why did they sell something that will continue to hold value in decades to come? mj might not had a lot of physical money when he was alive, but all of his assets pushed to being very very wealthy. such a shame they had to sell something he never wanted them to have.
Buying the Beatles catalog was the smartest thing MJ ever did business-wise.
The word LEGEND should be changed to MJ
🙂 🙂 🙂 You all probably know what I´m thinking…
So this my fav vs your fav fan continues ….after death?
It’s pitiful.
He could’ve had the biggest and most extravagant Tour of all time with all that money. Just think of the production value, the creative direction, the props, dancers, stage, pyrotechnics, etc. He could’ve made Madonna’s tours look like little school plays if he wanted to. That’s power right there!
His talent alone made Madonnas tours look like school plays. Madge is all gimmick. But I digress.
Legendary house of JACKSON. Learn it
Yess hunty, get into it??
which includes the rights to many Beatles songs – to Sony Corporation.
This means that The Beatles’s music helps him to make all this money too, don’t get it twisted, The Beatles are still the greatest thing in music.
No they’re not.
The Beatles have stans? Huh – go figure.
Yet they didn’t own their own catalog ??
KING!!!
Duh , all my sister RIP
Making more than your faves while they’re in their graves
Wow