Roald Dahl

The British children's author, who created such a masterpiece as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", died in 1990 of cancer. Overall, he wrote 40 books which were adapted into 16 feature films. However, it was not until he was long dead that his fortunes soared. This year, Netflix has acquired the rights to the film adaptation of his works for $680 million, buying out part of the shares of Roald Dahl Story. The deal brought the writer's heirs $513 million, which made him the wealthiest dead person in the Forbes rating.

Prince

Prince takes No. 2 spot this year, climbing from eighth place. The winner of numerous Grammy Awards, Prince Rogers Nelson, aka Prince, died in 2016 of an overdose. However, his heirs still receive big returns from his cultural heritage. He rose in the ranking thanks to a deal his siblings made to sell an estimated 43% of the estate and his catalog with some hits. They earned about $108 million. As a result, over the past year, Prince's income has amounted to $120 million.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson, who topped the list for eight straight years, comes in at No. 3. It has been 12 years since the death of pop idol Michael Jackson from an overdose. Nevertheless, his songs are still popular and consistently bring high income. This year, the singer's hits racked up 1.3 billion streams. The profit from the Mijac Music catalog brought him $30 million. In total, the performer has earned $75 million over the year.

Charles Schulz

The cartoonist died in 2000 of cancer and posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award. Charles Schultz was awarded for his most famous work. The artist has been creating the Peanuts comic book series for 50 years. Today, it is included on the list of the most successful comics of all time. One of its main characters – Snoopy the Dog – is still incredibly popular. In November, Apple TV+ launched new episodes of the series "Snoopy in Space'', which, of course, boosted the income of Charles Schultz. The artist has earned $40 million over the past year from his legendary comics.

Dr. Seuss

Children's book author Theodore Seuss, also known as Dr. Seuss, died in 1991 of cancer. However, even 30 years after the death of the talented author, his works continue to be bestsellers. In the last year alone, about 7 million printed books have been sold. The writer also earns a steady income from his collaboration with Hollywood film studios and Netflix. So, the premiere of the second season of the animated series "Green Eggs and Ham" based on his fairy tale took place last month. In general, over the past year, Dr. Seuss received $35 million.