File under: Why am I so fascinated with this?
They were friends in life, but as it turns out, Elizabeth Taylor is out earning Michael Jackson in death. It's pretty hard to top Micheal's $ 125 million that he earned in the last twelve months; however, Dame Elizabeth tops the list with $ 210.00 million.
"How?", you ask. Some of her unrivaled jewelry collection, costumes, and art were auctioned for $ 18 million dollars. Every one of the 1800 pieces at auction sold and the most expensive lot was a Van Gough painting that sold for $ 16 million dollars.
She also has one of the world best selling perfumes, White Diamonds, which brought in $ 75 million and of course residuals from her movies. She was a shrewd negotiator.
Her residuals will probably keep her on this list, but The King of Pop will most likely regain his number one sport next year.
This list, by Forbes Magazine, runs from October 2011 to October 2012. Number three from the list is Elvis Presley who earned $ 55 million and four is Charles Schultz the creator of the comic strip Peanuts.
Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang are as popular as ever as ever. The Peanuts are the ninth most lucrative entertainment franchise, bringing in $2 billion a year globally at retail. The strip is about to get the big-screen treatment from Fox’s animation division Blue Sky, which produced the Ice Age movies. That could help boost Shulz’ earnings in coming years.
Bob Marley is number five and has become quite the international business man in the afterlife. He had $17 million in earnings last year. There is now a Marley beverage company which sells Marley’s Mellow Mood, a “relaxation” drink. ( I need to acquire some of that!) Then there’s the House of Marley which sells headphones, speakers and “lively up” bags.
Source: Forbes
