Music

Michael Jackson made $850 million this year

by Tyler Munro

Toward the end of his life, Michael Jackson was in the midst of a financial crisis. That, many assume, was the reason for the hubbub behind the ill-fated This Is It tour he was set to embark on before his sudden passing.

In death, however, the King of Pop is rolling in it. According to Forbes, Jackson made around $850 million in pretax earnings between October 2015 and 2016, making him the highest earning celebrity of the last twelve months, dead or alive. On the list of other dead celebs, Jackson topped Charlie Brown creator Charles Schultz, recently deceased golfer/lemonade peddler Arnold Palmer and, of course, Elvis Presley. David Bowie, who died in January, came in 11th on the list.

Jackson’s earnings (or, rather, his estate’s) were the result of a massive sale of his publishing catalogue and, in turn, largely thanks to the Beatles. In 1985, Jackson outbid Paul McCartney for the rights to the Fab Four’s back catalogue, so when Jackson sold his half of Sony/ATV’s catalogue earlier this year, those songs went with it. When Jackson bought the catalogue in 1985, it set him back $47.5 million. This year’s sale? It earned his estate $750 million. That’s a nearly 1500% profit.