--- title: How Michael Jackson Still Earns Millions After His Death description: Michael Jackson was crowned king again — this time as the highest-earning deceased celebrity, his fifth time earning the accolade authors: - name: Alicia Adamczyk url: https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 201 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk former_staff: true published: '2017-10-30T17:25:29.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T07:09:22.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - celebrities - onetime word_count: 247 canonical: https://money.com/michael-jackson-net-worth-2017/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Michael Jackson File Images](https://img.money.com/2017/10/michael-jackson-super-bowl.jpg) *Michael Jackson performs at the Super Bowl XXVII Halftime show at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 31, 1993 in Pasadena, Calif.* [Michael Jackson](https://money.com/michael-jacksons-neverland-ranch-price-cut/) was crowned king again — this time as the highest-earning deceased celebrity of this year. The late King of Pop earned $75 million between October 2016 and October 2017, according to Forbes' [Top Earning Dead Celebrities of 2017](https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2017/10/30/the-top-earning-dead-celebrities-of-2017/#7d2889b141f5) list — Jackson's fifth consecutive time topping the list. This year, Jackson's earnings were attributed to an hour-long Halloween special on CBS called *Michael Jackson’s Halloween,* which aired this past weekend, and a new album. Last year, he pulled in a reported $825 million, according to Forbes, "the highest annual total for any entertainer dead or alive," thanks to the sale of his half of the Sony/ATV catalogue.When Jackson died in 2009, [he was worth an estimated $500 million](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7340741/michael-jackson-estate-tax-court-battle-irs), according to the IRS (though his estate disputed that number and said he was actually worth $2,105. Jackson was followed by the recently deceased golf legend [Arnold Palmer, who passed away last year](https://time.com/4771275/sports-books-gifts/item/arnie-the-life-of-arnold-palmer/). Palmer earned $40 million last year as more than 400 stores still sell his apparel and his namesake drink products continue to be popular. *Peanuts* creator [Charles Schulz](https://time.com/4981221/peanuts-charles-schultz-california-wildfires/) rounded out the top three, earning $38 million last year, according to Forbes. Here's the full list: 1. **Michael Jackson**—$75 million 2. **Arnold Palmer**—$40 million 3. **Charles Schulz**—$38 million 4. **Elvis Presley**—$35 million 5. **Bob Marley**—$23 million 6. **Tom Petty**—$20 million 7. **Prince**—$18 million 8. **Dr. Seuss**—$16 million 9. **John Lennon**—$12 million 10. **Albert Einstein**—$10 million 11. **David Bowie**—$9.5 million 12. **Elizabeth Taylor**—$8 million 13. **Bettie Page**—$7.5 million Forbes' list measures pretax income from October 15, 2016 through October 15, 2017. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jackson-net-worth-2017/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Celebrities", "item": "https://money.com/celebrities/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How Michael Jackson Still Earns Millions After His Death" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jackson-net-worth-2017/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/michael-jackson-net-worth-2017/", "name": "How Michael Jackson Still Earns Millions After His Death", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-10-30T17:25:29.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jackson-net-worth-2017/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jackson-net-worth-2017/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T07:09:22.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "How Michael Jackson Still Earns Millions After His Death", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/10/michael-jackson-super-bowl.jpg", "width": 3550, "height": 2366, "caption": "Michael Jackson File Images" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alicia Adamczyk", "url": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/alicia-adamczyk/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/alicia-headshot-2.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1", "email": "alicia.adamczyk@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/aliciaadamczyk" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2017-10-30T17:25:29.000Z", "description": "Michael Jackson was crowned king again — this time as the highest-earning deceased celebrity, his fifth time earning the accolade", "abstract": "Michael Jackson was crowned king again — this time as the highest-earning deceased celebrity, his fifth time earning the accolade", "@id": "https://money.com/michael-jackson-net-worth-2017/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-17T07:09:22.000Z", "wordCount": 247, "keywords": [ "celebrities", "onetime" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Celebrity", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity" ] } ] } ] } ```