Complex sentence: He earned an estimated $2,000,000 per year (approximately $11,748,515 in 2017) until his death in 1981, making him one of the highest paid artists in the world.
Split into simpler sentences: He earned an estimated $2,000,000 per year (approximately $11,748,515 in 2017) until his death in 1981. This made him one of the highest paid artists in the world.