Billionaire’s donation brings ‘dead’ celebs back to life on social media

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Turns out we were dead wrong asking for guesses on how long it would take for the 18 Digital Death celebrities to pool their cash to raise $1 million.

We should’ve asked people to estimate how long it would take for a billionaire to pick up the tab, as pharmaceutical exec Stewart Rahr did Monday afternoon, putting fans and the participating celebs out of their social-media-starved misery to benefit Alicia Keys’ Keep a Child Alive foundation, which helps children and their families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

‘So stoked to be back on twitter!’ Ryan Seacrest said on Twitter around 2:40 PST. ‘Special shout out to Stewie Rah Rah for his generous donation.’

The total had been around $300,000 at 9:30 a.m. PST, after more than five days of the campaign by 18 celebs who taped their ‘last tweet and testament’ and posed for pictures in coffins.

Rahr owns Kinray, the largest wholesale pharmaceutical distributor in the world.

In addition to Keys and Seacrest, Usher, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Hudson, Lenny Kravitz, Daphne Guinness, Swizz Beats, Serena Williams, Kimberly Cole, David LaChappelle, Justin Timberlake, Jay Sean, Janelle Monae, Elijah Wood and pop group the Buried Life participated in the social-media blackout.

As of 3 p.m. PST, Gaga was still dead to the Twitter world, however, with the most recent missive on her account -- a plea for donations -- sent Thursday, the day after the campaign started.

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-- Christie D’Zurilla