Who Owns Marilyn Monroe’s Estate? Beneficiaries, Value & More

Marilyn Monroe may have been gone for more than 60 years, but to Authentic Brands Group, she’s alive and well.

The actress and model — who redefined glamor and sex appeal in her heyday — died of a drug overdose in August of 1962 at the age of 36, but her legacy lives on. Since 2011, the year Authentic purchased an 80 percent stake in her intellectual property, sales of product with her name on it have grown fourfold to $80 million in global sales.

And with the 100th anniversary of her birth fast approaching — she was born June 1, 1926 — those numbers are expected to grow substantially as the Authentic promotional juggernaut shifts into high gear.

Although Authentic also owns the rights to the estates of a number of celebrities including Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe was the first. “Marilyn was the first celebrity brand that we’ve owned 100 percent of, and it really kind of set the tone for how we were going to be in this business,” said Dana Carpenter, executive vice president of entertainment for Authentic.

In 2011, Authentic teamed with NECA, a global media and entertainment company, to acquire the majority stake in Marilyn Monroe LLC from Anna Strasberg, the third wife of the late Lee Strasberg, the acting coach who was like a father to the actress. Upon her death, Monroe left the bulk of her estate to him. Authentic’s purchase price, sources said at the time, was between $20 million and $30 million.

“Anna Strasberg was very cautious about how she wanted Marilyn’s legacy to be protected,” Carpenter said. “Originally, we were only able to acquire 80 percent, but we proved to her over time how we respected and trusted and were going to take care of the brand, and eventually we were able to acquire the remaining 20 percent.”

In 2011, apparel represented 56 percent of overall sales of Marilyn Monroe-related product, followed by 10 percent of her name, image and likeness, 8 percent alcohol, 6 percent art and the remainder spread between home goods, stationery, accessories and games.

But by last year, the mix had shifted significantly. The largest percentage was now intimates, which represented 26 percent of sales, followed by NIL with 23 percent, jewelry with 12 percent, health and wellness with 7 percent, beauty with 4 percent and apparel down significantly to just 6 percent.

Carpenter explained: “We did a lot of clean-up on the brand. When we first bought it, it wasn’t fashion apparel. It was a lot of graphic Ts and things like that, which are important to the business, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t very strategic. We’ve now taken a much more thoughtful approach to how we build Marilyn as a brand and really want to make sure that not only is her name important but also her power as an influencer and an endorser for other partnerships.”

Carpenter said one of the most important and longest-standing partnerships is with Chanel No.5. Monroe, who famously said in the 1950s that she wore the fragrance to bed, is still one of the faces of the scent. At Authentic, this falls into the NIL category, Carpenter said.

Earlier this year, Tiffany & Co. used handwritten letters from Monroe as well as Audrey Hepburn and others in its windows for Valentine’s Day. Her quote: “I think love is the most important thing that can happen to you.”

Other recent partnerships included a Coca-Cola pop-up, which was inspired by the 1957 photo of Monroe stopping traffic in New York to grab a hot dog and a Coke.

“All of those things are super important to keep her as part of the cultural conversation,” Carpenter said. “And they also give us some halo for the existing branded businesses that we have.”

Although many of the potential customers for these products weren’t even born before Monroe died, Carpenter believes there are several reasons for her longevity. “There are very few people that can hang on the way that Marilyn has,” she said. “There are two sides to her, which I think has made her incredibly relevant. Obviously, the image of her as a beautiful actress in Hollywood — she had some incredible films, she was a Golden Globe winner, she had a ton of achievements in her lifetime. But I think the other part of her, which for us is incredibly important today, is that she was also an entrepreneur.”

Carpenter said Monroe challenged the studio system in the 1950s, a time when it wasn’t necessarily an accepted practice. “Actresses were under contract, and there was really no negotiation there,” she said, “but…