Forbes Daily: Digging Into Profits From Beyond The Grave

This is a published version of the Forbes Daily newsletter, you can sign-up to get Forbes Daily in your inbox here.

Good morning,

Happy Halloween from Forbes! 🎃 On this spookiest of holidays, we thought it would be fun to brew up something a little different for you in today’s edition of the Forbes Daily.

To get in the spirit of the day, we pulled together a newsletter with some of our favorite creepy reporting from Forbes. From the business of witchcraft on Etsy to the grim—and lucrative—reality of catastrophe bonds, our journalists have covered some disconcerting subjects in the past year. But just like the thrill of watching a horror movie, it can be fun to have a good scare with your news every now and then.

We’ll return to our usual format tomorrow, but in the meantime, sit back, grab a handful of fun-sized candy bars and enjoy a very Forbes-y Halloween.

DAILY COVER STORY

The Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities Of 2024

TOPLINE Death comes for us all, eventually. But for some folks, shuffling off this mortal coil doesn’t necessarily mean the money stops rolling in.

Take rock stars, for instance. In 2024, several music legends—including Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Bob Marley and Whitney Houston—are again topping the charts of the highest-paid dead celebrities. Music catalog income and estate deals remain the top income generators for deceased recording artists.

Jackson’s estate, for example, scored a huge win in August after a judge ruled that the $600 million catalog sale of his publishing and recorded masters’ rights to Sony could proceed, despite protestations from the late artist’s mother.

Beyond the music world, several other entertainers are raking in cash from the great beyond. The late Friends star Matthew Perry became the rare television actor to make the list. (The comedy duo Abbott & Costello—primarily considered film stars—were the first back in 1988 when Forbes launched the Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities list.)

Meanwhile, golf legend Arnold Palmer, who died in 2016, turned a homemade drink into a bona fide business success. Palmer’s namesake iced tea and lemonade drink produced by AriZona generates some $300 million annually in revenues, while spiked versions from Molson Coors pull in millions more.

WHY IT MATTERS “Estate management for deceased musicians, actors and other notable public figures is a sizable industry within entertainment that has billions of dollars at stake,” says Senior Entertainment Reporter Lisette Voytko-Best. “It goes to show how valuable intellectual property remains over time—decades, with no signs of slowing down.”

MODERN-DAY SNAKE OIL

Witchcraft isn’t just for Halloween and Harry Potter—it’s big business online.

Etsy hosts thousands of spells, Forbes’ Cyrus Farivar reported, ranging from those promising fast riches to curing depression and disease. We estimate the e-commerce platform has facilitated millions of dollars in spell sales, based on interviews and rough math.

Most of the spells feature a disclaimer that they are offered only for entertainment purposes, providing them with legal protection in most states. But Kenny Biddle, chief investigator for the Center of Inquiry, an organization dedicated to defending science, describes them as “modern-day snake oil” and “scams.”

CATASTROPHE YIELDS

This year’s hurricane season has been deadly and destructive—with major storms like hurricanes Helene and Milton causing billions of dollars in damage. Still, the appetite for catastrophe bonds remains strong.

These bonds allow insurers to hedge against the financial impact of natural disasters, while offering investors a chance to earn robust returns, provided those disasters don’t surpass certain claim damage thresholds. In 2023, catastrophe bonds delivered a 20% return, the best performance among any alternative asset class.

Forbes’ Brandon Kochkodin reported that Dallas-based Brookmont Capital Management filed a prospectus with the SEC for a Catastrophic Bond exchange-traded fund, making tapping into these high-yield bonds simpler than ever. The prospectus outlines the typical credit risks and also specific hazards including earthquakes in California, typhoons in Japan and European windstorms.

DEADLY OUTBREAK

As a fatal listeria outbreak has rocked America’s biggest deli meat brand, Boar’s Head has been oddly silent.

In fact, the company refuses to even confirm who its current CEO or chairman is, citing a lone spokesperson in media reports and signing a letter about the outbreak on its website simply “Boar’s Head.” But even amid the company’s crisis, the warring families who founded Boar’s Head seem more concerned about a feud over the billion-dollar company’s ownership.

Lawyers say the company could be on the hook for hundreds of millions in civil claims and criminal charges after at least 10 people died and nearly 60 were hospitalized across some 19 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

“All of this was completely preventable,” says lawyer Bill Marler, whose law firm specializes in claims for food recall victims and filed a lawsuit against Boar’s Head on behalf of a survivor. “They were better at growing listeria than they were at making food for human consumption.”

HOLLYWOOD HORRORS

As Hollywood continues to face challenges at the box office, one of the best bets for movie studios remains the horror genre. These movies are often relatively cheap to make and have a dedicated audience that continues to flock to the theater.

This year has seen a number of celebrated scary movies, including the summer hit Longlegs, which has grossed more than $109 million at the box office on a budget of under $10 million. This month alone, horror has produced two No. 1 movies in the U.S., with the tremendously gory Terrifier 3 grossing nearly $27 million in its first week, and Smile 2 following up with a $31 million debut of its own.

Forbes’ Lisette Voytko-Best wrote about one of horror cinema’s greatest success stories, The Blair Witch Project. Namely, she focused on how the film’s original cast claims they are owed millions in profits off the 1999 movie with a shoestring budget that went on to gross $248 million at the box office and spawn a number of sequels. Forbes conservatively estimates that since the film’s premiere, the three principal actors have received just $375,000 each, with the majority coming from settlements.

TERRIFYING TOURISM

Halloween aficionados travel across the country for ghost tours, haunted houses, pumpkin patches and more, as the holiday is a major tourism driver for some cities and towns. Salem, Massachusetts, the site of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, is arguably the Halloween capital of the U.S., while Savannah, Georgia, is one of the country’s most haunted cities. And the small town of Anoka, Minnesota, hosts one of the oldest and largest Halloween parades.

SCARY SCAMS

Online scams targeting individuals aged 60 and older—often called “elder fraud”—have been exploding, causing more than $3.4 billion in losses in 2023, up from $1.7 billion in 2021, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. To prevent your loved ones and yourself from falling victim to a scam, Forbes’ Kelly Phillips Erb says to be wary of red flags such as being asked to wire money, send bitcoin, or buy gift cards; don’t fall for pressure to act fast; and if you get a call from what seems like a legitimate organization such as the IRS or your bank, tell them you’ll call back and then dial a trusted, direct number.

FACTS + COMMENTS

If you’ve stocked up for trick-or-treaters this year, you might already know that chocolate prices are through the roof—a 47-year high, as of February. It’s driving manufacturers like Hershey to pursue more gummy and sour treats, NPR reported:

45%: Increase in cocoa prices from January to September of this year, according to the Producer Price Index

Three years: Poor weather conditions in West Africa over three consecutive years have led to failed cocoa harvests in the world’s top-producing regions

“We’re going to see a lot of new creations”: Non-chocolate offerings are expected to be more common in candy aisles, Wells Fargo commodities analyst David Branch told the Washington Post

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

There are few things scarier than improperly managed personal finances. To avoid frightful mistakes that can hurt you in the long term, take the time to lay out your own financial plan, which will guide you through your expenses, savings and investments to help you achieve your goals. Avoid overspending and impulse purchases, try not to rely too much on credit cards, and start building up an emergency fund.

CANDY COUNTER

Candy is one of the most complicated products to define when it comes to sales tax. Forbes’ Kelly Phillips Erb outlines how the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement defines candy, and which tasty treats surprisingly don’t meet that definition.

QUIZ

The Bureau of Land Management kicked off an animal beauty contest last week, tallying public votes before it announces a winner later today. Which Halloween-adjacent animals are being judged in the contest?

A. Bats

B. Cats

C. Spiders

D. Wolves

Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Caroline Howard.