On the 25th anniversary of the Forbes ranking, new and old artists joined a heavenly lineup of musicians as the greatest earners in the great beyond.
In 2001, Elvis Presley topped Forbes’ first list tracking the highest-earning celebrity estates, and The King has appeared on every edition of the rankings in the 25 years since, earning over $1.2 billion during that span. Yet it’s another member of music royalty who has truly broken the paradigm for posthumous earnings Elvis’ onetime son-in-law, Michael Jackson who has earned an astonishing $3.5 billion since his death in 2009. A handful of newcomers found their way onto the list this year by selling the rights to their music.
This year's Dead Celebrity ranking includes those pretax earnings from sales, streams, licensing deals and other sources between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025, as well as estate acquisitions made or announced during the same period, which are distributed to family members and other beneficiaries.
Here are 2025’s highest-earning dead celebrities:
1. - Michael Jackson - US$105 Million.
2. - Dr. Seuss - US$85 Million.
3. - Richard Wright and Syd Barret - US$81 Million.
7. - Elvis Presley - US$17 Million.
Forbes wrote: "Last summer, a bizarre identity theft plot threatened to sell Elvis’ Graceland estate in Memphis to the highest bidder, but was snuffed out in time for the property to remain fully owned by Presley's estate, now controlled by his granddaughter, actress Riley Keough.
The family owns just 15% of Elvis Presley Enterprises, the company that operates the tourism operation at Graceland and the surrounding shopping mall, as well as the extensive Elvis licensing effort and what remains of The King's publishing rights, while the rest of EPE is controlled and managed by Authentic Brands Group, which also manages the estates of Muhammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe."
Read the complete list at the >>> Forbes website.
(Source: Forbes)