Michael Jackson Tops Forbes List of Year's Highest-Earning Dead Celebrities

New York - Singer Michael Jackson made more money than any other dead celebrity over the past year, according to rankings published Tuesday by Forbes magazine.

Jackson, who died in June 2009 at age 50, posthumously earned $170 million over the past 12 months from sales of his back catalog, his music publishing company Mijac Music and his stakes in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog.

Sony Music/ATV owns the rights to most of the songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney during their Beatles partnership, as well as compositions by Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Destiny's Child and many others.

The top five for this year was rounded out by Elvis Presley ($55 million), Marilyn Monroe ($27 million), "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz ($25 million), and a tie between John Lennon and Elizabeth Taylor, who both earned $12 million.

Deceased celebrities who brought in at least $5 million between October 2010 and October 2011 were eligible for the Forbes list.

Jackson also topped last year's list, earning $275 million between October 2009 and October 2010 from record sales and his "This Is It" documentary.

Source: Forbes.com