Michael Jackson is once again proving that legacy doesn’t rest. In 2025, the King of Pop’s estate earned a staggering $105 million, topping Forbes’ list of the highest-paid deceased celebrities.
Most of that haul came from a blockbuster $600 million deal in 2024, where Sony Music acquired half of Jackson’s master recordings and publishing catalog. That move included new royalty terms, boosting the estate’s earnings from global streams and sales. While Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother, challenged the sale legally, the deal still went through and solidified MJ’s catalog as one of the most valuable in history.
But the money doesn’t stop at music. Broadway’s “MJ: The Musical” continues to pull in millions with international productions, and his Vegas residency, Michael Jackson ONE at Mandalay Bay, just surpassed 5,000 performances, with no signs of slowing down. His posthumous film, “This Is It,” and Cirque du Soleil’s show have each added hundreds of millions to the estate over the years.
A major biopic, “Michael,” starring his nephew Jaafar Jackson, is set to premiere in April 2026, and buzz around it is expected to drive even more earnings.
Other musical icons like Prince and John Lennon also made Forbes’ list, but none came close to MJ.
