It's that time of the year again - time for Forbes to release its annual list of the top earning dead celebrities. As you will see below, this year's top earner blew the others out of the water by earning $115 million more than number two on the list and more than the numbers three through fifteen combined.
And now, here are the top fifteen estates of celebrities ranked in order of earnings from October 2010 through October 2011:
- Michael Jackson - $170 million
- Elvis Presley - $55 million
- Marilyn Monroe - $27 million
- Charles Schulz - $25 million
- John Lennon (tie) - $12 million
- Elizabeth Taylor (tie) - $12 million
- Albert Einstein - $10 million
- Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) - $9 million
- Jimi Hendrix (tie) - $7 million
- Stieg Larsson (tie) - $7 million
- Steve McQueen (tie) - $ 7 million
- Richard Rodgers (tie) - $7 million
- George Harrison (tie) - $7 million
- Bettie Page (tie) - $6 million
- Andy Warhol (tie) - $6 million
Notable mentions who missed the cut this time around:
- Kurt Cobain - His name has been licensed to Fender to make a replica model of his favorite guitar.
- Tony Curtis - The auction of his personal items brought in $1 million back in September.
- James Dean - A new biography is due out in January.
- Bob Marley - Some of his most popular songs are no longer owned by his estate.
- Tupak Shakur - Although he sold over 75 million albums posthumously, last year his estate only made $4 million.
- Aaron Spelling - His Beverly Hills estate that at one time was estimated to be worth $150 million was sold but the sale proceeds did not go to the estate.
- Bram Stoker - Vampire tales such as Twilight and True Blood have brought new found fame to the writer of Dracula.
- J.R.R. Tolkien - Sales of his books fell off last year.
- Amy Winehouse - Her death in July boosted sales of her Back to Black album, but not enough to put her estate on the top fifteen list.
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