Dying is So Lucrative

Even in death celebrities can make money. In celebration of Halloween approaching in one week, I thought I would review a little article from Forbes Magazine that profiles The Top Earning Dead Celebrities. Once a celebrity is no longer with us, his or her estate can earn millions of dollars through song licensing, DVD release or simply being an icon.

Here are a few interesting examples of rich dead people:

Kurt Cobain- In death he became a cultural icon and this year made $50 million dollars through the sale of part of his catolog. So now we can hear Nirvana songs selling cars, soda, etc… way to sell out, Courtney Love.

Elvis- The King will always be a cash cow, even in death. This year he made $42 million dollars through merchandise and a new boxed set of his hits.

Charles M. Schulz- Snoopy will always make money through syndication of his cartoons and products based on his famous characters. Urban Outfitters is coming out with a line of Peanuts t-shirts and these add up to the $35 million dollar gross he had this year.

Marilyn Monroe- The only woman on this list, she made $8 million dollars this year in death. Her image is used to sell Dom Perignon, Absolut and cars from GM. A European company is also developing a “Marilyn” perfume.

So artists aren’t the only people that can rake up million in death. Happy almost Halloween.

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