According to Forbe’s 2014 list of highest earning dead celebrities, Michael is currently the highest, raking in an estimated US$140 million (S$178 million) in the past year for his estate. He earned more than twice as much as singer Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 and came in second with US$55 million, and three times more than cartoonist and Peanuts comic strip creator Charles Schulz, who took third place with US$40 million.
“Few celebrities prove the point that there is (financial) life after death better than Michael Jackson,” Forbes said.
It is Jackson’s second straight year atop the list. He regained the title in 2013, a year after being pushed into second place by actress Elizabeth Taylor.