Michael Jackson Earns More Money from the Grave Than Any Living Musician

Forbes grimly reports, “It’s the third time in the past five years that the top-earning celebrity in the world has come from the graveyard.”

Jackson’s earnings over the past year have come from two Cirque du Soleil shows, highlighting Jackson’s music, titled Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL – featuring one show that tours, one at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Vegas and his 50% stake in the Sony/ATV song catalogue, which includes not only his own hits, but other classic hits like “When a Man Loves a Woman.”

Michael Jackson, considered the greatest entertainer of all time, died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication after suffering a cardiac arrest on June 25, 2009.  His death created a scramble of sorts from Sony Music Entertainment to secure its stake in Jackson’s estate.

In March 2010, Sony Music Entertainment signed a $250 million deal with the Jackson estate to retain distribution rights to Jackson’s recordings through 2017 and the release of seven posthumous albums over the decade following his death.

At the time of his death, Jackson owned a 50% share of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog with an estimated value to be at $1.5 billion.  I am sure Sony has their eyes on that 50% share of the song catalog, but has not commented on whether it intends on buying the share from Jackson’s estate.

The Forbes article also contained a list of deceased wealth earners including:  Elvis Presley (a distant second behind Michael Jackson) with $55 millionPeanuts creator Charles Schultz with$37 millionElizabeth Taylor with $25 million, and Bob Marley earning a reported $18 million.

Article Appeared @http://www.blackbluedog.com/2013/10/news/michael-jackson-earns-more-money-from-the-grave-than-any-living-musician/

 

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