Michael Jackson's Estate Wants To Keep Thrilling

More than two years after his death, Jackson is still on top. His estate wants to keep him there

More than two years after his death, Michael Jackson is still moonwalking to the bank. Already one of the best-selling artists of all time, the singer was the top-selling act of 2009, thanks to a post-mortem surge in interest in his albums. That raised his career total to more than 750 million records worldwide. This Is It, the backstage look at Jackson’s unrealized final tour, was released four months after his death and became the highest-grossing concert film ever. In the 18 months after his passing, his estate reported that it collected $310 million from music, merchandise sales, and its share of publication rights on a music catalog that includes songs by the Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Jackson himself.

Now the hard part begins. As unseemly as it may sound, the first year of a celebrity’s death can be a bonanza. “When a star first dies, fans are desperate for just one more performance,” says Mark Young, a University of Southern California professor who specializes in sports and entertainment. Maintaining that buzz could be a challenge for even the King of Pop as fans move on to the next Lady Gaga-du-jour. Jackson wouldn’t be the first king to fade. The Elvis Presley estate, long the gold standard of money-making by dead stars, now has all the earmarks of an aging brand. In 2010 the estate generated $57 million for CKX (CKX:US), which owns the rights to the Elvis name.

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