Michael Jackson Tops Highest-Earning Dead Celebrities List
The late singer also earned more than any living celebrity.
-- The King of Pop is still the king of the hill in terms of earning power, even years after his 2009 death.
According to Forbes -- by leaps and bounds -- Jackson is the highest-earning dead celebrity, with a 2016 take of $825 million.
Jackson's closest competition wasn't even in the same ballpark: Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, who earned $48 million -- despite being dead since 2000.
Jackson's estate owes much of the windfall to his investment in the Beatles' music catalog -- which, the magazine points out, was once considered a poor investment at $47.5 million back in 1985, or $140 million in 2016 dollars.
In 1995, Jackson earned $115 million from Sony for half of the Fab Four's catalog that he owned in a 50/50 partnership deal. In March of 2016, Jackson's estate sold his remaining half to the company.
Highest Paid Dead Celebrities of 2016, according to Forbes: