Burroughs Built Tarzan's Multimedia Empire

The first author commonly credited with incorporating himself was Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, who established Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. in 1923. Burroughs marketed Tarzan through books, comic strips, films, radio, and merchandise despite experts warning that the different formats would compete with one another. Instead, audiences embraced Tarzan in every form. By Burroughs's death in 1950, he was believed to have earned more from films than any other writer, collecting over $2 million in royalties from 27 Tarzan movies.

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