According to Forbes, Michael Jackson has earned an astonishing $3.5 billion since his passing in 2009 a figure that cements his status as the highest-earning entertainer of all time, living or dead.
Jackson once again topped Forbes’ annual list of highest-paid deceased celebrities, pulling in $105 millionover the past year alone. “When it comes to estate earnings,” one prominent estate lawyer told Forbes, “it’s MJ then an enormous canyon then everybody else.”
Much of Jackson’s posthumous fortune stems from the music empire he meticulously built during his lifetime. In 1985, he made one of the most legendary deals in entertainment history by purchasing the ATV catalog for $47.5 million (around $142 million today). That catalog included nearly 4,000 songs among them, virtually every hit written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles.
Decades later, that shrewd investment paid off spectacularly. In 2016, Jackson’s estate sold its stake in the catalog to Sony for $750 million, roughly $1 billion in today’s money.
Notably, that deal did not include Jackson’s own publishing rights or master recordings. However, in 2024, his estate struck another massive deal with Sony selling a 50% stake in those remaining assets for $600 million. The sale, though lucrative, sparked controversy within the Jackson family, as his mother, Katherine Jackson, argued it went against her son’s wishes and unsuccessfully sought to block it in court.
Beyond the music rights empire, the Jackson brand has proven to be a global entertainment juggernaut. His 2009 concert documentary, This Is It, became the highest-grossing concert film of all time with $267 millionin box office revenue. Then came Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil, which earned $160 million in 2012, more than any living artist that year.
That momentum carried on with Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson ONE residency in Las Vegas, running since 2013, and the hit Broadway production MJ: The Musical, which debuted in 2022. Together, they have generated close to $300 million in ticket sales and inspired international spin-offs.
Fifteen years after his death, Michael Jackson’s cultural and financial dominance shows no sign of fading. His music still tops streaming charts, his brand still fills theaters, and his estate continues to out-earn every living superstar in the business.
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