He is dead, but his legacy lives on as he continues to top the charts of the highest-paid dead celebrities. Michael Jackson has been named the highest-paid dead celebrity of 2025, earning an incredible $105 million over the past year.
He comes out on top for the third consecutive year, according to Forbes data. Forbes said that since his death in 2009, Jackson’s estate has brought in $3.5 billion, showing his legendary status. “When it comes to estate earnings, it’s MJ, then an enormous canyon, then everybody else,” an estate attorney told the business magazine.
The King of Pop’s wealth has usually been from assets that he accumulated during his life. Much of his fortune this year came from the 2024 sale of 50% of his master recordings and publishing catalog to Sony Music for $600 million, a deal his mother, Katherine, contested, saying Jackson would be against it.
Decades before this, Jackson bought the ATV Music catalog for $47.5 million in 1985 (about $142 million today). It included about 4,000 songs, with nearly every hit written together by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Forbes said. That investment brought $750 million in 2016 (around $1 billion today) when Jackson’s estate sold its stake to Sony.
Besides music royalties, Jackson’s 2009 posthumous concert film This Is It grossed $267 million at the box office and Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil also brought $160 million, becoming the most successful concert tour of 2012 and earning Jackson more money than any living musician.
The concert’s success led to Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson ONE, which has held a residency in Las Vegas since 2013, and MJ: The Musical, a Broadway show which began in 2022, bringing in almost $300 million in total ticket sales and giving birth to several international productions.
Analysts also expect the much-anticipated biopic Michael, starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, to bring in more millions for the late musician after its premiere in April 2026.
Musicians once again led this year’s highest-earning dead celebrities list, making up 10 of the top 13, who earned a total of $541 million combined before taxes and fees.
“Because of the global appeal of pop music, and the likelihood that star recording artists receive a higher percentage of residual profits than, say, actors from their catalog of movies or TV shows, musicians once again dominate this year’s list, making up 10 of the top 13, who earned a total of $541 million combined before taxes and fees,” Forbes explained.
Apart from Jackson, other musicians who made the list were the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd members Richard Wright and Syd Barrett, The Notorious B.I.G., Miles Davis and Bob Marley. Still, the gap between Jackson and these musicians is wide.
Below is the full list of the highest-earning dead celebrities:
- Michael Jackson – $105 Million
- Dr. Seuss – $85 Million
- Richard Wright – $81 Million
- Syd Barrett – $81 Million
- The Notorious B.I.G. – $80 Million
- Miles Davis – $21 Million
- Elvis Presley – $17 Million
- Jimmy Buffett – $14 Million
- Bob Marley – $13 Million
- John Lennon – $12 Million
