Mao's Royalties

Mao persecuted academics and artists for capitalist ideas. Ironically, he amassed a fortune from royalities generated by his infamous book of quotations. At the height of its popularity it was required reading for workers, soldiers, and schoolchildren; over a billion volumes alone were printed during the Cultural Revolution. Scholars estimate the book, as of 2001, has drawn over $17 million in royalities. Current estimates are unavailable, but over $20 million would be a reasonable guess. Mao never saw the money. His fourth wife, as well as his two sons, unsuccessfully campaigned for the money. The PRC gets around the issue of Mao's private property by saying the Little Red Book was not his but the "party's collective wisdom". Today the money still sits in a vault, the Party unsure of what to do with it.