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.
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