Michael Jackson Named As Highest Earning Dead Celebrity Yet Again

A new list of the highest earning dead celebrities has placed Michael Jackson way, way at the top of the pile, with his estate raking in well over £300 million over the last 12 months.

The 2018 list published by Forbes has placed the King of Pop at the top for the sixth year in a row. Measuring pre-tax earnings from 1st October 2017 to 1st October 2018, before deducting fees for agents, managers, lawyers and estate executors, the publication estimates that Jackson’s estate earned £313 million.

The huge figure is apparently attributable to his estate’s significant stake in EMI Music Publishing, which was sold off recently. Other profitable projects his estate has recently engaged in include a new record deal with Sony, and the 2017 animated television special ‘Michael Jackson’s Halloween’.

It means that Jackson, who died suddenly in the summer of 2009, has now made a staggering £1.8 billion since his passing.

More: Michael Jackson is earning more in death than he did in life

All of this puts him a massive £282 million ahead of his nearest rival in the list, with Elvis Presley in second place with earnings of £31 million, largely coming from record sales and the development of a new entertainment complex called ‘Elvis Presley’s Memphis’, located at his Graceland home.

Third place was secured by legendary golfer Arnold Palmer with £27 million, while ‘Charlie Brown’ cartoon creator Charles Schulz and reggae icon Bob Marley secured fourth and fifth spots in the list with respective earnings of £26 and £18 million.

Other musicians in the list include Prince, who earned £10 million down to posthumous releases and the opening of a museum at his Paisley Park home/studio complex, and Beatles icon John Lennon, whose estate received £9 million.

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