Michael Jackson Is the Top-Earning Dead Celebrity of the Year [PICTURES]

Michael Jackson is one of those celebrities that earned a lot of money during his lifetime and keeps racking it in well after. Just because a celebrity dies it doesn’t mean that their work or the fan interest goes away.

Every year around Halloween, Forbes reveals their list of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities over the past year (October 2010 to October 2011), and Jackson is clearly tops.

Thanks to the sales of his old and new albums, a new movie and various tribute concerts and memorabilia, the King of Pop has accumulated $170 million this past year.

Other interesting placers are Elizabeth Taylor, who earned $12 million due in large part to her fragrance sales, and Stieg Larsson, who unfortunately wasn’t able to witness the international success of his ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ books.

Here are the other dead celebrities on the list.

[Forbes]