Dead but not in the Red
You might not be able to take it with you, but that doesn't mean you have to stop making money just because you're no longer breathing. Forbes Magazine has published its annual list of the top earning dead celebrities, and some of them continue to generate quite a haul:
- Elvis Presley – $49 million
- John Lennon – $44 million
- Charles M. Schulz – $35 million
- George Harrison – $22 million
- Albert Einstein – $18 million
- Andy Warhol – $15 million
- Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) – $13 million
- Tupac Shakur – $9 million
- Marilyn Monroe – $7 million
- Steve McQueen – $6 million
- James Brown – $5 million
- Bob Marley – $4 million
- James Dean – $3.5 million
In case you're wondering how a physicist made this list: Albert Einstein's name is used to peddle Baby Einstein DVDs.
It's interesting to note that Elvis last topped this list in 2005, meaning that he's apparently in the midst of a successful comeback tour.
Dang. I should have waited until tomorrow to post this.
Who said Elvis is dead?
Posted by: gwynne at October 30, 2007 08:06 PMWell, with a butt like his, it would take two Beatles to kick it, wouldn't it?
Who said Elvis is dead?
Don't worry, Gwynne. It's just a ruse to throw the IRS off his track.
Posted by: Eric at October 30, 2007 10:14 PMric,
Do you have any interest in writing about how the largest and perhaps most profitable oil company in Texas (Oxy Permian) is currently destroying itself from within?
Oxy's recipe:(2007 Oct. version)
1) Reduce capital spending authority
2) Eliminate 9/80 work schedule, one of the company's most popular perks
3) "Early retire" four of the senior management, most of whom have over 25 years with Oxy
4) Announce a re-structuring, then provide zero additional info for weeks (maybe months?)
5) Lay off technical staff who do not wish to transfer to that cesspool of humanity, Houston
6) Give only 48 hours for employee decisions to stay or leave
7) Grant 1/2 day of floating holiday to employees in exchange for the 26 Fridays lost due to elimination of "9/80" schedule
8) Pay the CEO the highest compensation on the planet, year after year, but expect the worker bees to "reduce overhead costs" (explanation - layoffs)
8) Piss on the employees and tell them it is raining
9) Bring on a new "initiative" each month until the employees collapse from the cumulative work load
10) The list goes on....
I'd say you've done a pretty good job of covering the bases.
If I thought there was even the slightest chance of redemption for the company, I might be tempted. But the Oxy that's at work now is living up to the reputation established way back when Armand Hammer was at the helm. Nothing's changed. We all had hopes that Altura would be able to remain unstained, but all along, that was a pipe dream, and the company's true colors inevitably have bled through.
As you probably know, my family's fortunes are no longer tied to Oxy, and so I have no skin directly in the game. I sympathize deeply with those who aren't so fortunate. On the other hand, this is not our first, or second, or even third experience with something similar.
Someone defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. Each individual needs to figure out if they're in that cycle. There's never been a better time in the industry to break it, if you know what I mean.
Posted by: Eric at October 31, 2007 06:11 AMApropos of absolutely nothing - my grandfather is buried in the same cemetery as Armand Hammer. I recall asking my mom as a little kid why said marker had the baking soda logo on it. :)
As for Elvis...we all know he's in a nursing home kicking mummy butt.
Posted by: beth at October 31, 2007 08:32 AMHere in Pottsington there's a street named for the guy and a defunct chemical company at one end of it called Occidental.
**cue spooky halloween-ish music**
Posted by: Jim at October 31, 2007 10:26 AMYou guys are weirding me out. Stop it.
*creak*
What was that?!
Posted by: Eric at October 31, 2007 10:28 AMAhhh! I see it is the same exact company!
**cue the sequel to spooky music**
Posted by: Jim at October 31, 2007 10:28 AMHey, I just realized: Marilyn Monroe is buried there too.
Posted by: beth at October 31, 2007 12:27 PMYeah, right. I suppose you'll next tell us that Einstein drives the tour bus.
Posted by: Eric at October 31, 2007 12:32 PMOh, sure. Anybody can put up a Wikipedia page; what's that prove? ;-)
Posted by: Eric at October 31, 2007 01:11 PMHey - given that I received "research papers" with all the references from Wikipedia, clearly it proves that the youth of today are brainless. Er. I mean it proves that Wikipedia is a valid, unimpeachable source!
Posted by: beth at October 31, 2007 01:21 PMToo bad the list stops where it did. I would like to see whether some others might be making money. Fred Astaire and John Wayne made a few ghostly commercials a while back but haven't made appearances lately.
Surely Charlie Chaplin is still working. And Rock Hudson? Well, maybe not.
Posted by: Geo at November 4, 2007 03:52 PM2 things about Charles Schulz.
1) A friend once told me that, as a child, he drew Snoopy and sent it to Schulz. Schulz sent him back a drawing of Snoopy with a note to the effect of "I couldn't draw him as well as you could."
2) Guess who's in charge of merchandising Peanuts products these days.
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Elvis may be tops, but those two dead Beatles are combining to kick his posthumous butt!
Posted by: Jim at October 30, 2007 06:22 PM