Page 14 - Forbes India (December 2015)

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entertainment
Top-Earning

Dead Celebrities

life ends. business goes on. while these 13 stars 2. elvis Presley
slumber six feet under, up above they still pull in millions of $55 million
Singer, aCtOr
dollars in record deals, feature films and product placements. DieD: auguSt 16, 1977
(Swig of Bob Marley relaxation elixir, anyone?) These Age: 42
working dead are industrious—their aggregate afterlife CauSe: heart attaCK
pre-tax earnings in the last 12 months totalled $338.5 the King while alive—and still
undead royalty. the memphis
million. For more capitalism from the crypt, including our legend scored his 53rd top 40
album in august with Elvis Presley
complete methodology, go to forbes.com/deadcelebs. Forever, a compilation released by
- BY ZaCK O’maLLeY greenBurg the uS Postal Service along with a
commemorative stamp. most of his
money comes from ticket sales to
his graceland estate. among the
attractions: the annual elvis Birth-
day Celebration, home School Day
and the holiday graceland Lighting
1. Michael Jackson Ceremony, which this year includes
visits from trisha Yearwood and
$115 million Santa Claus elvis.
Singer
DieD: June 25, 2009
Age: 50
CauSe: OverDOSe/hOmiCiDe
the next year could be a thrilling
one for the King of Pop, as Sony is
exploring a sale of its half of Sony/
atv, the music catalogue it shares 9. Paul Walker
with Jackson’s estate (a collec-
tion including the rights to hits by $10.5 million
taylor Swift and the Beatles). a big aCtOr
spender might just buy out both DieD: nOvemBer 30, 2013
sides—possibly for as much as $2 Age: 40
billion—or Jackson’s estate may CauSe: Car CraSh
buy out Sony. Since he died, he has Walker died doing some after-hours
earned nine digits each year from racing in the midst of filming Furious 7.
music sales, a Las vegas Cirque Fans’ morbid curiosity about how he’d
du Soleil show and his half of the appear in the movie helped supercharge
music-publishing business. its box office performance: $1.5 billion,
the biggest haul in the popular franchise’s
history. his estate got an estimated $10
million from a slice of the movie’s back end.
11. Theodor
“dr seuss”
Geisel
$9.5 million
authOr, iLLuStratOr
DieD: SePtemBer 24, 1991
Age: 87
CauSe: naturaL CauSeS
10. BeTTie PaGe there’s plenty of green in those green
eggs. the wildly whimsical creations
$10 million of geisel are featured in merchandise,
mODeL
DieD: DeCemBer 11, 2008 movies and universal Studios theme-
park rides. and, in July, his estate
Age: 85
CauSe: naturaL CauSeS released a new rhyming tale, What Pet
Should I Get, which has already sold
the bad-girl pinup lends her 387,000 copies.
identity to ever growing fashion
lines (bridal wear and hand-
bags). up next: a vegas show
featuring a hologram of Page
performing one of her famous
striptease acts. hot damn.
14 | FORBES INDIA DECEMBER 11, 2015