The King Of Pop Remains Royalty Among Forbes Top Deceased Earners

One again, the King of Pop was No. 1 on Forbes‘ Top-Earning Dead Celebrity list. The beloved music icon held the top spot in 2011, 2013 and takes it again for 2014. The only time he was bumped from that position was in 2012 when Elizabeth Taylor topped the list..

More than five years after his passing, the King of Pop remains royalty among deceased earners, bringing hundreds of millions every year since his passing.

Jackson brought in $140 million in earnings over the last 11 months, in part due to his second posthumous album release, Xscape, which debuted at No. 2 on the charts. Then the success of two Cirque du Soleil shows—Immortal, one of the ten top grossing tours of all time, and  Michael Jackson One, a permanent show in Las Vegas and  earnings from half of the Sony/ATV publishing empire and his own Mijac catalogue.

To compile the list Forbes talks  to estate managers, agents, music publishers and other experts to come up with estimates of what each estate brought in between October 2013 and October 2014. They don’t deduct for taxes, expenses or  management fees.

Others on the list include Elvis at #2 with an estimated $55 Million, Elizabeth Taylor #3  with $25 Mil,  #4 Cartoonist Charles Schulz, with $40 million and #5  Bob Marley, with $20 million.

Read more at Forbes.