YSL is top of posthumous successes (From Bucks Free Press)

YSL is top of posthumous successes

10:10am Thursday 29th October 2009

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Yves Saint Laurent is the world's most successful posthumous celebrity, ahead of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

The French fashion designer, who passed away in June 2008, grossed around 350 million US dollars last year from the sales of his estate, beating out musical-makers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, who had a combined income of 235 million US dollars from their back catalogue, Jackson (90 million US dollars) and Presley (55 million US dollars), according to the list compiled by Forbes.com.

Matthew Miller, Forbes' senior editor, said: "Yves Saint Laurent and Rodgers and Hammerstein had massive estate sales that catapulted them to the top of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list, but while they beat Michael Jackson and Elvis this year, Jackson and Elvis will remain near the top of the list every year because of all of the wonderful music and memorabilia they left behind."

David Reeder, vice president of GreenLight consultancy, agreed.

He said: "For top earning dead celebrities - or 'delebs' - it's all about global iconic status. Michael Jackson may not have made it to the No 1 spot this year, but I have no doubt that he'll do it next year and probably the year after that.

"Jackson's appeal is far more global than an icon such as Elvis and his back catalogue alone will inevitably secure hundreds of millions of dollars for his estate."

Stars who had dropped off the 2008 ranking include James Dean, Marvin Gaye, Heath Ledger, Steve McQueen and Marilyn Monroe.

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