Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, 2007
Edited by Lea Goldman and David M. Ewalt

The 13 legends in our seventh annual list of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities grossed a combined $232 million in the past 12 months. Many are instantly recognizable one-name wonders (Elvis, Marilyn, Warhol) who still command attention worldwide, making them marketers’ ideal pitchmen.

Indeed, all the members of this year’s club are the lynchpins of enormously profitable–and growing–merchandising empires. Albert Einstein’s name is used to peddle Baby Einstein DVDs. Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel’s books are a staple of every kiddie library on the planet. Hundreds of performances of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown pad the portfolio of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz each year–as well as comic strips that are still syndicated daily in thousands of newspapers worldwide.

Top 5
1) Elvis Presley
2) John Lennon
3) Charles Schulz
4) George Harrison
5) Albert Einstein

Lists from 2001-2007 are also available.

Source: Forbes

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 and is filed under Business and Economics, Lists and Rankings, Source File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.