Yves Saint Laurent is the world’s top earning dead celebrity

Posted by Helen Lee at 10:01 pm October 29th, 2009 | 0 comments

He passed away in June 2008 but thanks to various estate sales, French legend Yves Saint Laurent has been given another ‘honor’ from Forbes – the title of the highest earning dead celebrity in the last 12 months. He tops a list which includes the late Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Aaron Spelling and Rodgers & Hammerstein.

Saint Laurent’s earnings reportedly amounted to USD$350 million and came largely from the sale of items in his estate at Christies in February with the cash reportedly split between the Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and a soon-to-be-created philanthropic group aimed at scientific research and the fight against AIDS.

Meanwhile Michael Jackson’s estate made it on to the list in third spot with $90 million dollars in earnings.