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NEWS > BUSINESS > MICHAEL JACKSON NOT THE KING OF POSTHUMOUS EARNINGS
MICHAEL JACKSON NOT THE KING OF POSTHUMOUS EARNINGS
October 29 2009
New York, NY – There’s little doubt that Michael Jackson was a one of a kind performer. His global popularity, almost unabated for forty years is testament to that; the fact that it has grown since his death is confirmation of that popularity. Since his
untimely death in June, Jackson has been omnipresence in a way that he never enjoyed in life. With regular news articles still being published about every aspect of his life, and a sure-fire hit film just hitting theatre screens, Jackson’s success is likely to continue for a long time to come.
Unfortunately though Jackson has not been able to hold onto his earning crown. In a new list released by Forbes, Jackson is ranked third on the list of the most profitable deceased celebrities, trailing far behind Yves Saint Laurent and Rodgers and Hammerstein. Part of that placing, Forbes noted, is that fact that Jackson has only been dead for a few months whereas his competitors have had an entire year of earnings. Nonetheless, Jackson’s inability to take the crown says to many what was expected all along; that the King of Pop is well and truly dead.
“Jackson has earned about $90 million this year. Laurent has earned $350 million, Rodgers and Hammerstein $235 million. As you can see there is quite large gap there. Obviously with the release of ‘This is It’ in theatres his numbers will increase significantly but I sincerely doubt that he will be able to come close to the upper figures,” said a spokesperson for Forbes. “It will allow him to pull further away from people like Elvis Presley, who was number one last year, and J.R.R. Tolkien but unless something really spectacular happens he is going to remain middle of the pack. Let’s keep in mind though that Laurent is only in his first full year of eligibility so things may drop a little next year. If Jackson’s promised recordings are released we may well see him at the top.”
Other celebs topping the list are Charles Schulz, John Lennon, Dr. Seuss, Albert Einstein, Michael Crichton, Jimi Hendrix, Aaron Spelling and Andy Warhol. None of those personalities are anywhere near Jackson’s earnings.
“It’s a very good number given the limited time he has had to earn, but it is so far 
from the top spot that it’s really almost not worth mentioning. Someone like Elvis you would expect to be lower on the list as his fans continue to age and die out, but Jackson really has no excuse. If he’s not at the top, he’s not at the top. The reason for that is the reason his star faded so much in life,” said Scrape TV Business analyst Ken Green. “Unfortunately he did irreparable harm to his career and earning potential, something that will end up hurting his family, his children, his lawyers, his agents, his publicists, and all the other people who have their fingers in the Michael Jackson pie. He knew he was going to die someday but unfortunately he didn’t plan for it as carefully as he should have.”
‘This is It’, a compilation of rehearsal footage from his ill fated final set of concerts, is expected to top the box office this weekend, every dollar of which will go towards his ranking though will likely still leave him well short of second place.
“The unfortunate thing is that he is not able to do anything about it. I’m sure if he came back from the dead he would bring in huge dollars but that is very unlikely to happen. If he was going to come back he would have by now. The truth is zombies really need to be the recently dead, not the decaying corpses you saw in his ‘Thriller’ video,” continued Green. “Jackson will earn for a number of years though, that is the upside. He may not be the king anymore but he will be a handsomely paid Prince and in that case, well second place just isn’t so bad after all.”
Experts believe that concert promoters already attempted to raise Jackson from the dead, to no avail.
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
NEWS > BUSINESS > MICHAEL JACKSON NOT THE KING OF POSTHUMOUS EARNINGS
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