Michael Jackson continues to earn way more than all other dead people
Once again making all other dead people look downright lazy—just lying there breaking down into simpler organic matter, not making a dime—Michael Jackson has topped the list of the year’s highest-earning dead celebrities for the third time since 2009. Forbes (which can explain even death with a ranked list about money) estimates that Jackson earned some $160 million in the past 12 months, bringing in revenue from two Jackson-themed Cirque du Soleil shows, sales from his recorded music, and proceeds from his own publishing catalog as well as his half of the Sony catalog that includes artists like The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Taylor Swift—many of whom are still alive and thus real good earners for a dead man. Topping the list was considered a comeback for Jackson, in ways that do not actually involve returning to life: Last year he was knocked out of the top spot by his old friend Elizabeth Taylor, whose death in 2011 gave her a timely, competitive edge.