13 Top-Earning Dead Celebrities

You'd think a person would have to work pretty hard to make more than $5 million a year? But maybe not! The people on this list are making more money in one year than most of us will see in a lifetime - and they're not even alive to enjoy it!

Kurt Cobain - $50 million

The lead singer of Nirvana may have taken his own life in 1994, but he still has a presence in the music biz. His widow, controversial and drug-addled Courtney Love, controls his estate and continues to license his name and song catalog to advertising agencies and television shows including Six Feet Under and CSI. In fact, Cobain took over the number one spot following a huge licensing deal that Love made in 2006 - Elvis usually holds the top position on this list. Cobain was famously anti-commercial, so many fans feel uncomfortable with the money the poster boy of grunge continues to pull in.

Elvis Presley - $42 million

Until 2006, Elvis had been the number one money-making dead celebrity for years. Die-hard fans continue to buy box sets, remastered recordings, biographies, and other Elvis memorabilia by the millions, even though there's been no new material from the King since he died in 1977. In addition to merchandising, income comes from ticket sales at Graceland and the licensing of Elvis's identity to developers in Las Vegas who are planning a new Elvis attraction.


Charles M. Schulz - $35 million

Snoopy, Woodstock, Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Lucy continue to grace the pages of more than 2,400 U.S. newspapers every day. Charles Schulz, the cartoonist behind the "Peanuts" comic strip, died of cancer in 2000, but annual television specials and licensing agreements with apparel companies continue to make Schulz a wealthy man.


John Lennon - $24 million

In 1980, Beatles member John Lennon was killed by a crazed fan in New York City and mourned by fans around the world. The Beatles still sell more than a million records every year, even though they split up in 1970. Lennon's solo work also moves hundreds of thousands of copies each year. In addition, widow Yoko Ono filed a $10 million lawsuit against record company EMI to obtain back royalties and master recordings, which helped boost Lennon's bank account.

Albert Einstein - $20 million

Licensing giant Corbis has image rights to Einstein's wild-haired visage and says that the physics genius is their most requested figure. Disney pays top dollar for the use of Einstein's name in their Baby Einstein line, and T-shirts around the globe feature Einstein's famous face and formula, E=mc2. Einstein died in 1955 at age 76, but every generation since instantly recognizes the great physicist.

Andy Warhol - $19 million

Avant-garde pop artist Andy Warhol once said that in the future, everyone will have 15 minutes of fame. He died before he saw how right he was - reality TV appeared only a few years after Warhol's death in 1987. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts continues to sign off on deals with companies such as Levi Strauss and Barney's New York to reproduce Warhol soup cans and portraits for the masses, which keeps the Factory creator cranking out the dough more than two decades after his death.

Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss - $10 million

With movies, apparel, and even Broadway musicals based on Geisel's characters, such as the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch, not to mention dozens of Dr. Seuss titles that continue to fly off the shelves, it's easy to see how Geisel continues to make money even after his death in 1991.

Ray Charles - $10 million

Ray, the hit biopic of 2004, clearly had a lot to do with the resurgence of all things Ray Charles. The beloved singer-songwriter died of liver failure in 2004, but his record sales are better than ever. DVD sales of the Oscar-winning film and biographies of the dynamic performer are up, too, and continue to bring money to his estate.

Marilyn Monroe - $8 million

No one before or since has embodied Hollywood glamour like iconic sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. Her platinum blonde hair and breathy voice are gold mines for ad campaigns that want to nab the attention of both male and female audiences. General Motors, Absolut, and Dom Perignon have all paid a pretty price for permission to use Monroe in their advertisements. The controversy surrounding Monroe's 1962 death has only served to reinforce her popularity.

Johnny Cash - $8 million

Like Ray Charles, the "Man in Black" enjoyed newfound popularity posthumously. The Oscar-winning movie Walk the Line greatly increased interest in the country singer-songwriter. In 2006, he sold 3.6 million records, up from 2.8 million the year before. Cash's estate offers a steady stream of compilations, never-before-heard tunes from the song vault, and remastered versions to keep fans coming back for more, even after his passing in 2003.

J.R.R. Tolkien - $7 million

If you saw any of the three Lord of the Rings movies, you paid Tolkien, even though the fantasy novel genius hasn't been around since 1973. Producer Peter Jackson paid handsomely for rights to make the silver screen version of the trilogy and, financially, it was worth it - the movies are among the highest grossing films of all time. Aside from the novels themselves, which continue to sell well in bookstores around the world, the movie version of the tale brought DVDs, toys, clothes, collectibles, and box sets.

George Harrison - $7 million

The "Quiet Beatle" passed in 2001 as a result of cancer, but before he left, he made a lucrative deal with the popular dance/circus/performance troupe Cirque du Soleil. LOVE is a production that pays tribute to the Fab Four by showcasing their song catalog and has quickly become one of the company's most popular shows. In addition, Harrison's solo records still sell well, and he collects royalties from Beatles merchandise and lawsuits, too.

Bob Marley - $7 million

When people think of reggae music, they think of Bob Marley. This universally recognized Rastafarian still rakes in millions from record sales, largely due to his estate's savvy handlers. Limited edition CDs, digitally remastered copies of classics, and various other Marley-related items are continuously released, even though he died in 1981.

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Can you visualize U$1 Trillion Dollars?

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"... A billion dollars... A hundred billion dollars... Eight hundred billion dollars... One TRILLION dollars... What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats. We'll start with a $100 dollar bill.

Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...

Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars.

This is that number we've been hearing about so much. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.You ready for this? It's pretty surprising. Go ahead....

Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars

(And notice those pallets are double stacked.)So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

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Creative Origami

Young Billionaires

Whoever said youth was wasted on the young probably wasn't talking about the youngest members of our billionaires list.

Sure, a bunch of them were lucky enough to inherit their wealth. China's richest woman, Yang Huiyan, owes her $7.4 billion fortune to her generous father, Yeung Kwok Keung, the media-shy chief of real estate outfit Country Garden, who transferred all his shares to her in 2005, the same year she graduated from Ohio State University.

So too Hind Hariri, 24, the daughter of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri. A recent graduate of the Lebanese American University in Beirut, Hariri is a fashionista who frequents Paris shows and reportedly favors designer Chanel.

But many actually made their own fortunes. The Ukraine's youngest billionaire, Kostyantin Zhevago, was only 19 when he started out as a finance director at a bank. He later gained a majority stake in its holding company. Today the 34-year-old is worth $3.4 billion and is a deputy in Ukraine's parliament.

Then there is the Chinese billionaire nicknamed Light: Xiaofeng Peng, 33, who got into solar energy in 2005 and took his company, LDK Solar, which makes silicon wafers used in solar panels, public on NYSE Euronext, two years later.

Nothing beats being young and rich. In our annual ranking of the world's richest people, I found 20 billionaires aged 35 years or younger. Eleven of them made their own fortunes, like Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The rest, like China’s richest woman Yang Huiyan, inherited it. Here are 10 of the most interesting.

Sergey Brin (U.S.) Age 34

$18.7 billion, self-made

The richest of the under-35 set, Brin emigrated from Russia. He met partner Larry Page (a tad older and a tad poorer) while both were students in the computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford. The duo dropped out to start Google in a garage they sublet from the sister of Brin’s now wife, Anne Wojcicki, whom he married in 2007. Brin now serves as Google's president of technology.

Larry Page (U.S.) Age 35

$18.6 billion, self-made

The Google co-founder grew up in Michigan, the son of a professor. He met partner Sergey Brin at Stanford, where they dropped out and started the search engine together. Page now heads the company’s products division. He and Brin were considered two of the world’s most eligible bachelors until 2007, when they both married within months of one another. Page’s wedding was held at British billionaire Richard Branson’s Necker Island.

Yang Huiyan (China) Age 26

$7.4 billion, inherited

China’s richest is also one of the world’s youngest billionaires, and a daddy’s girl. Yang earned her degree from Ohio State University in 2005, the same year her father Yeung Kwok Keung, the media-shy chief of real estate outfit Country Garden, transferred his stake in the company to her (not a bad graduation gift). Gold-diggers beware: She’s already married--her wedding video is posted on YouTube.

Kostyantin Zhevago (Ukraine) Age 34

$3.4 billion, self-made

Ukraine's youngest billionaire started out as finance director of bank Finance & Credit in 1992. He eventually gained a majority stake in its holding company, Finance & Credit Group. Zhevago is currently revamping the group's major asset, iron pellet producer Poltavsky GOK, in anticipation of a public offering. He also serves in Ukraine's parliament.

Xiaofeng Peng (China) Age 33

$2.5 billion, self-made

It’s easy being green for Peng. The relative youngster got into solar energy in 2005. Only two years later, he took his company LDK Solar, which makes silicon wafers used in solar panels, public on the NYSE Euronext.

Shivinder Singh (India) Age: 32

$2.5 billion, inherited

Singh and his older brother Malvinder, 35, both Duke University grads, inherited control of generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories. We list the duo as sharing a $2.5 billion fortune, as they won’t break down the ownership details for us. What we know: Malvinder heads Ranbaxy, while Shivinder runs hospital chain Fortis Healthcare, which went public in 2007.

Albert von Thurn und Taxis (Germany) Age: 24

$2.3 billion, inherited

The German prince appeared briefly on our billionaires list at age 8, but he officially inherited his fortune on his 18th birthday. He lives in a family castle with his mother and older sister. A racecar driver, he tours with an Italian auto-racing league.

Xian Yang (China) Age 34

$1.6 billion, self-made

The graduate of the People's Police School of Sichuan and former customs officer earned his fortune trading coal and coal byproduct coke. He listed his Hidili Industry in September 2007 in Hong Kong.

John Arnold (U.S.) Age 34

$1.5 billion, self-made

Raised by a lawyer dad and accountant mom, Arnold whizzed through Vanderbilt University in three years. He then became an oil trader for Enron, supposedly earning $750 million for the company in 2001, when he was just 27. He went into business for himself after Enron collapsed a year later. He currently runs the Centaurus Energy hedge fund.

Hind Hariri (Lebanon) Age 24

$1.1 billion, inherited

The daughter of late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri inherited a stake in her family’s construction, media and banking holdings after her father was assassinated in 2005. She fell off our billionaires list last year but now returns, making her the world’s youngest female billionaire. Hariri is a fashionista who recently attended the Paris fashion shows and reportedly favors the designs of Chanel.