Top Earning Dead Celebrities

It wasn't always so, but, in today's world, just being dead doesn't stop a celebrity from earning big bucks. Forbes has compiled a list of the top earning dead celebrities and a few of the names on the list may surprise you.

Now, if someone asked me to name the top earning dead celebrity I'd probably say that it was Elvis, but I'd be very wrong. Granted, Elvis is number 2 on the list. I can understand how rock stars would keep earning money through record sales and such. that part of the report makes perfect sense. What I don't understand is how some of the movie star's estates keep raking in so much.

Now, Elizabeth Taylor had several products that bore her name and, no doubt, that accounts for her being so high on the list. What I want to know is how the estate of Albert Einstein keeps making millions every year. Does he get a royalty for the theory of relativity?

Here, according to Forbes, are the top earning dead celebrities:

1. Michael Jackson, $115 million. Dead since 2009.

2. Elvis Presley, $55 million. Dead since 1977.

3. "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz, $40 million. Dead since 2000.

4. Bob Marley, $21 million. Dead since 1981.

5. Elizabeth Taylor, $20 million. Dead since 2011.

6. Marilyn Monroe, $17 million. Dead since 1962.

7. John Lennon, $12 million. Dead since 1980.

8. Albert Einstein, $11 million. Dead since 1955.

9. Paul Walker, $10.5 million. Dead since 2013.

10. Bettie Page, $10 million. Dead since 2008.

11. Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, $9.5 million. Dead since 1991.