Elizabeth Taylor surpassed Michael Jackson as the highest-earning dead celebrity in the past year, with her estate pulling in $210 million, much of it from the auction of her jewels, costumes and artwork, Forbes said on Wednesday.
Jackson, who died in 2009, dropped into second place with earnings of $145 million, followed by Elvis Presley with $55 million.
In addition to the Taylor auction, which totaled $184 million, the actress, who passed away in 2011 at the age of 79, also earned $75 million from sales of her top selling perfume White Diamonds.
"The rest of the money came from property sales and residuals from Taylor's movies," according to Forbes. "After 'Cleopatra,' the star smartly negotiated a 10 percent ownership in each of her films."
Although Taylor bumped Jackson from the top spot, Forbes said the pop star is likely to regain it next year due to steady revenues from music sales and other ventures.
Cartoonist Charles Schulz, who created the Peanuts comic strip, came in at No. 4 with earnings of $37 million, followed by reggae star Bob Marley with $17 million.
Forbes compiled the ranking by analyzing the dead celebrities' earnings between October 2011-2012.
"We count money coming into the estate and we don't deduct for how the estate handles it," Forbes said.
Films stars and musicians dominated the list but Nobel-prize winning physicist Albert Einstein tied with Marilyn Monroe for seventh place, with each earning $10 million.
The 13 dead celebrities on the list earned a total of $532.5 million.
E. Taylor wont be on top next year anylonger. bambi has dropped 25 M since last year (wonder where will it rank in 30 years time). ELVIS is steady 35 years after HE left us.
Well his earning power remains high so I assume this must reflect somewhat on his standing and respect he retains across various age groups, as an eternal star of the entertainment world. The only sad thing is that he has qualified for lists such as this, and others like it for such a long time.
Load of nonsense. $184m plus $75m does not equal $210m. WhenI went to school this would have been $259m, and there is of course the 'rest of the money' to be added. I expect billboard were the verifiers of the information!
Amazing that ELVIS is in the top 3 after all these years. Obviously he has not been forgotten world wide. What an achievement. ELVIS could never have imagined all that in his life time.
I believe Elvis gets no income from the music, did he not sell all his rights payments for a lump sum payment in 74 or 75?
E.P.E. has never publicly talked about ELVIS' earnings post death. Obviously, Forbes is estimating what they believe his estate makes. I read a magazine article back in the 1980s that estimated ELVIS made over 2 billion dollars during his lifetime when the U.S. dollar was still worth something. That same article claimed that ELVIS made ten times that amount after he died. I purchased a book a while back titled "ELVIS INC." that gives the most accurate picture of "THE KING'S" earnings since his death on August 16th 1977. The reasons I believe the author's findings are accurate are numerous. One, people in over 120 countries buy ELVIS products. Two, ELVIS AMERICAN DINERS began operating in Europe and Asia over the last couple of years with much success and the restaurant chain may even spread to other parts of the world. Three, ELVIS festivals are held around the world and are very popular. Four, ELVIS IN CONCERT has played to sold out venues around the world since it's inception in 1997. Five, Graceland's attendance is still strong. Six, ELVIS' other homes and haunts are popular tourists destinations. Seven, people still flock to Elvis Tribute Artist aka ETA concerts around the world. Eight, Graceland replicas are popular tourist destinations. Nine, ELVIS' fans are getting younger. Half of the visitors to Graceland alone are under the age of 35. Ten, "VIVA ELVIS" despite what the above article says sold out every show. The reason it was decided to close the show was because the majority of ELVIS' fans didn't like it or the album that accompanied it. Not to mention the huge competition "VIVA ELVIS" had by other ELVIS shows already in existence. Eleven, ELVIS still sells over 5 million recordings a year which is why Sony continues to rerelease his music and create new releases. Graceland houses the biggest collection of gold and platinum records by a solo artist. Twelve, ELVIS' popularity shows no signs of abating.
Just where do they get the information to produce this rubbish. Does anyone actually believe all these lists, aren't they produced just to get people talking about them?
Steve, it's just interesting news. There are many things in my life I appreciate aboveanything else, but never appear on any international list. So its relevance in life is negligable. Still interesting to observe his influence in ths world 35 after passing. Only a few may remain after so many years. I worder where the classical folks like beethoven are on this list (mind you: not my style, yet...)
Elvis dead 35 years = 55 million dollars. I dare say, no other celebrity on this list or any other list will accomplish this 35 years after thier death... period !
I personally believe it's in bad taste to boast about the earnings of anyone dead or alive. That being said, I believe the media should give a more accurate picture if they insist on making up such a list. Regardless of what Jackson's estate or the current media says he was not well thought of during the last fifteen years of his life. I find it highly unlikely that he would make the kind of money his estate, Forbes and Billboard claims he has since his death. Not to mention the Jackson estate's earnings according to Forbes has dropped the last two years. I predict the trend will continue.
Jackson will dominate because of one big reason. Unreleased recordings. This list has nothing to do with an artist popularity. It's about he dollar they make. So,if Taylor sold property for income,Elvis could and did not because he never bought any As a investment. people take this ousts to heart. Get real people.
Jackson only has a few more years at the top of Forbes list and then "THE KING" will take his rightful place back at the top.