Chattanooga Pulse

Written by The List
Wednesday, 05 November 2008 14:27

1. Elvis Presley
2. Charles M. Schulz
3. Heath Ledger
4. Albert Einstein
5. Aaron Spelling
6. Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
7. John Lennon
8. Andy Warhol
9. Marilyn Monroe
10. Steve McQueen
While some may find this list a bit on the morbid side, consider it part of the Halloween hangover effect. What is of interest is that Elvis raked in more than $52 million in the past year, which puts him well ahead of most living musicians. For example, Justin Timberlake made $44 million and Madonna earned only $40 million.

New to the list this year-yes, Forbes issues this list every year-is actor Heath Ledger, who died at the age of 28 late last year of a drug overdose. Based on his contract for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight, it was estimated that he made more than $20 million.

But probably the biggest surprise on the list is physicist Albert Einstein. Who knew that all those physics textbooks and T-shirts of him sticking his tongue out in glee would add up to such a tidy sum? While not many people can actually explain exactly what E=mc2 really means, apparently the accountants in charge of his estate have plenty of numbers prefaced by the “$” symbol to keep them quite busy year round.

Source: Forbes Magazine, Oct. 2008