Years after his death, Michael Jackson is still in the spotlight, not for his music alone.
A Forbes report reveals that the late music icon led the list of top-earning deceased celebrities in 2025, pulling in an estimated $105 million over the past year alone, far outpacing any other departed star. Since his passing in 2009, Jackson’s estate has amassed an astounding $3.5 billion, a testament to his lasting global impact both as an artist and an economic juggernaut.
“When it comes to estate earnings, it’s MJ, then an enormous canyon, then everybody else,” an estate attorney told Forbes.
A substantial portion of Jackson’s 2025 earnings stems from a blockbuster deal in 2024 when Sony Music purchased half of his master recordings and publishing catalog for $600 million. The agreement also restructured royalties, boosting the estate’s cut of global music profits. The sale wasn’t without controversy, as Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, objected, claiming the deal betrayed her son’s wishes. Nevertheless, the move solidified the catalog’s legendary status.
Jackson’s shrewd business ventures were nothing new. In 1985, he famously bought the ATV Music catalog, including most Beatles hits by Lennon and McCartney, for $47.5 million. That investment later yielded a $750 million payout when sold to Sony in 2016, valued at about $1 billion today.
His earning legacy stretches across film, live entertainment, and stage productions. The posthumous concert documentary This Is It grossed $267 million at the box office in 2009. Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour became 2012’s top-grossing live show, raking in $160 million. The Las Vegas residency Michael Jackson ONE passed 5,000 performances this year and will continue through 2030, while MJ: The Musical has generated nearly $300 million globally since its 2022 premiere, with five active productions worldwide this year.
The King of Pop’s reach is also set to grow with the April 2026 premiere of Michael, a biopic starring his nephew, Jaafar Jackson, a project expected to spark yet another surge of revenue and cultural nostalgia.
While musicians like Prince, John Lennon, and Bob Marley also rank in Forbes’ top earners of the afterlife, contributing to a $541 million collective haul, Jackson’s influence towers above the rest, unmatched in both legacy and lucrativeness.
