On November 13, forbes, the American business magazine Published a wealth ranking that measured the income generated by deceased celebrities in 2020 due to various intellectual property rights.
On this list, we see a lot of familiar faces.
In 12th place was Marilyn Monroe, who died in 1962. She died at a very beautiful age, but Qianying remained in people's hearts, earning $8 million (about 52 million yuan) this year.
Much of Monroe's legacy was left to her acting teacher, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Strasberg.
Monroe is the only actor on the charts, with the late musicians earning more, including Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, Beatles member John Lennon, and reggae music originator Bob Marley.
Their income comes mainly from music copyrights. Take, for example, Prince Rogers Nelson, an American musician who died in 2016, who sold 700,000 albums in the United States this year, bringing in $10 million (about 66 million yuan) in revenue.
Kobe Bryant's name appeared on the list, ranking 6th.
Others died because of illness, medication accidents or voluntary ends of life, and only he was separated from us by helicopter crash. Fans miss him so much that the relevant peripherals launched by a sports brand were sold out, and his autobiography sold 300,000 copies.
The goods received $20 million (about 130 million yuan) in revenue, providing some livelihood for his wife and daughters.
Elvis Presley, the "Elvis Presley," is a classic example of a legacy that benefits families.
He died of a heart attack in 1977 at the age of 42. After more than a decade of hard work, his wife obtained the right to use the portrait of her deceased husband and opened her former residence for people to visit, paving the way for the life of her daughter, Lisa Presley.
Lisa achieved nothing in her life, most famously by her flash marriage to Michael Jackson. In 2016, her marriage failed for the fourth time, and she was an alcoholic, drug addicted and in debt.
Currently, she mainly depends on part of her father's share of music rights.
At the top of the list is Elvis Presley's former son-in-law, Michael Jackson.
Despite the controversial documentary Escape from Neverland, fans have their own opinions and still love him. His revenue in 2020 was as high as $48 million (about $316 million), more than 70 percent of which came from his music.
Such a high income is only an "ordinary play" of his musical works. In the last statistical year, his songs had been played 2.1 billion times in the United States alone, earning $60 million (about $390 million) a year.
His high annual income allows his three children to have no worries about food and clothing.
Earlier this year, his youngest child, Blanket (nicknamed), spent $2.6 million (about $17.17 million) to celebrate his 18th birthday. When he was photographed taking food out of the restaurant in September, some netizens found that his car was worth a lot.
However, his children are more low-key and stable than Elvis Presley's daughters. His eldest son, who dreamed of showbiz, is now a businessman; his daughter is a rock singer; Blanket is still reading and rarely appears in front of the camera.
2020 Forbes Late Celebrity Income Rankings (Top 10):
1. Michael Jackson Musician $48 million
2. Dr. Seuss, Children's Literature Scholar $33 million
3. Charles Schultz cartoonist $32.5 million
4. Arnold Palmer Golfer $25 million
5. Elvis Presley Musician $23 million
6. Kobe Bryant Basketball Player $20 million
7. Jose Wald rapper $15 million
8. Bob Marley Musician $14 million
9. John Lennon Musician $13 million
10. Prince Rogers Nelson Musician $10 million
Image source: Network