It’s no secret that celebrities are worth more money once losing their ability to breathe oxygen. But who earns the most dollars since their passing?
Forbes’s annual †Top-Earning Dead celebrities’ list has just been released, with earnings equating to a not so shy $886 million in the past 12 months.
Fashion god, Yves Saint Laurent tops the list for the first time with annual assets for 2009 adding up to a hefty $350 million. Thanks to a handy little auction held earlier this year where his personal items were up for the taking.
Musical composer Richard Robertson and Playwright Oscar Hammerstein came in second with $235 million. A very respectable sum considering they both died over thirty years ago.
Debuting at an impressive third spot is non-other than Michael Jackson who earned $90 million. Not bad for four months, and no doubt the new ‘This Is It’, film which documents his life will add a large sum to that number.
The usual suspects Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, John Lennon and the gracious Andy Warhol are still there.
Newbie Aaron Spelling makes a cameo so to does J.R.R Tolkien and novelist Michael Crichton also takes a spot, thanks to his secretary who discovered his unpublished novel, which is now a cult hit and being made into a blockbuster.
The big news is that it seems making money after the final hurrah isn’t letting up. Since last year’s list the lump sum of all money earned jumped more than $700 million.
Not the best news for our living and breathing celebs but I guess their time will come. Or the time will come for the lucky inheritors of their grand fortunes.
