It's one of my favorite times of the year - no, not Halloween, but the time of the year when Forbes releases its list of the top earning dead celebrities for the past year. Based on revenues generated between October 2011 and October 2012, the estate of actress Elizabeth Taylor, who died in March 2011, earned a whopping $210 million, ousting the estate of Michael Jackson from the #1 spot. This was largely in part due to the Christie's auctions of Ms. Taylor's jewelry and other personal items that raked in $184 million. Speaking of the King of Pop, his estate earned a mere $145 million, down from $170 million in 2011. Then there is the ever steady estate of Elvis Presley, which came in at #3 this year with the same earnings as last year - $55 million.
And now, here are the top thirteen estates of dead celebrities ranked in order of earnings from October 2011 through October 2012:
- Elizabeth Taylor - $210 million, first appearance on the list
- Michael Jackson - $155 million, down from $170 million last year
- Elvis Presley - $55 million, the same as last year
- Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts comics - $37 million, way up from $25 million last year
- Bob Marley - $17 million, Mr. Marley did not make the list last year
- John Lennon - $12 million, the same as last year
- Marilyn Monroe (tie) - $10 million, way down from $27 million last year
- Albert Einstein (tie) - $10 million, the same as last year
- Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss - $9 million, the same as last year
- Steve McQueen (tie) - $8 million, up from $7 million last year
- Bettie Page (tie) - $8 million, up from $6 million last year
- Richard Rodgers, composer - $6 million, down from $7 million last year
- George Harrison - $5.5 million, down from $7 million last year
Falling off the list this year:
- Writer Stieg Larsson, whose estate earned $7 million last year
- Jimi Hendrix, whose estate earned $7 million last year
- Andy Warhol, whose estate earned $6 million last year
Read more:
- Death Becomes Them: Forbes Announces 2010 - 2011 Top Earning Dead Celebrities
- Famous Wills and Celebrity Estates - Actors, Actresses and Musicians
- Famous Wills and Celebrity Estates - Politicians, News and Media
- Famous Wills and Celebrity Estates - Sports and Athletes
- Other Famous Wills and Celebrity Estates