Syd Barrett’s Bigger Than The Beatles and Elvis

This is a list of the world's highest-paid dead celebrities as ranked by Forbes magazine
The 2025 list:

Rank / Earnings
1 Michael Jackson $105 million
2 Dr.Seuss $85 million
3 Richard Wright $81 million
4 Syd Barret [sic] $81 million
5 The Notorious B.I.G. $80 million
6 Miles Davis $21 million
7 Elvis Presley $17 million
8 Jimmy Buffett $14 million
9 Bob Marley $13 million
10 John Lennon $12 million
11 Prince $11 million
12 Arnold Palmer $11 million
13 Kobe Bryant $10 million

Gotta love the idea of financial experts reading "Forbes" going "Who the hell is Syd Barret?! And why is he tied for 3rd, ahead of all those others?" They even misspelled his name.

I have no idea.

Also baffled by the inclusion of Arnold Palmer. Is it all that lemonade?

Am curious as to why Miles is so high up. Jazz, even "Kind Of Blue," doesn't sell THAT much.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2025 08:05AM by MrFab.

Rough estimate, but it would appear that Syd released less than 2 1/2 hours worth of music in his lifetime. The Pink Floyd debut, the two solo albums, and various singles. (I’m not including later collections like “Opal“ or the Peel sessions.) Quite a payout for such a skimpy catalogue.

How could his estate possibly make that much, unless he gets royalties on sales of later Pink Floyd albums and merch?

There is NO WAY Barrett is making more than say George Michael.

“Last Christmas” alone, every year, everywhere??

Sorry, I just don’t see it.

My guess is that Pink Floyd sold the rights to their music to Sony for $400 million. This was in 2024 so that money would probably be attributed to your list. I imagine next year, he and Wright will drop off the list.

I think Arnold Palmer has a clothing line? I'm not a golfer, so I have no idea how prevalent it is in that world.

Is MIles' music sampled heavily?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2025 08:13AM by zoo.