King of Pop notches up estimated earnings of $60m according to Forbes’ annual listing.
Forbes has released its annual listing of the top earning dead celebrities.
The 2019 ranking includes nine musicians, as well as an actress, a sports legend and two creators of big name brands.
The nine musicians generated 15.2 billion streaming spins over the past year in the US, an increase of 38.5% from the previous 12 months, according to Forbes.
Total earnings for the 13 in the list reached $628 million.
Michael Jackson topped the ranking for the seventh consecutive year, despite recent controversy over the Leaving Neverland documentary, with estimated earnings of $60 million.
Elvis Presley was second, with $39 million, followed by Snoopy creator Charles Schulz ($38m), Arnold Palmer ($30m) and Bob Marley ($20m).
The remainder of the listing was as follows:
- Dr. Seuss – $19m
- John Lennon – $14m
- Marilyn Monroe – $13m
- Prince – $12m
- Nipsey Hussle – $11m
- Xxxtentacion – $10m
- Whitney Houston – $9.5m
- George Harrison – $9m
Forbes annual list of the top earning dead celebrities measures pretax income from October 1, 2018 through to October 1, 2019. The numbers are compiled with the help of data from Nielsen Music, IMDBPro and interviews with industry insiders.
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