Who Are the Years Top-Earning Dead Celebrities?
Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you can’t keep earning money, as Michael Jackson would certainly attest. You know, if he was still here. The late singer tops Forbes’ annual Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list, with gross earnings of $275 million, more than the other 12 celebs on the list combined. Forbes reports that MJ never made its annual Celebrity 100 list while alive, but in death he’s earned more over the past year than any celebrity on that list, except for Oprah Winfrey. Coming in at #2 is Elvis Presley, who would’ve been Jackson’s father-in-law if…well, you know. Good for $60 million, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was no match for the “Corpse King of Pop,” as Forbes so infelicitously puts it. Third place belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien, followed by Charles M. Schulz, John Lennon, and new-to-the-list Stieg Larsson, the late man behind The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. They’re followed, in order, by Dr. Seuss, Albert Einstein, and another Johnny-come-lately-to-death, George Steinbren
