According to court documents filed this week on Los Angeles Superior Court, Pop Star Michael Jackson was in over $500 Million debt by the time of his death.
- Michael Jackson owed over $500 million by the time of his death.
- The Jackson’s estate dramatic shift from loss to profit.
- The King of Pop and Jewelry, spiritual yet costly love affair.
‘Bad 25’ music album artist was stuck in financial woes since the early 90s. Unfortunately, his financial struggles kept getting worse in a later part of his life. By 1999 the debts reached over $140 million.
From 2001 to 2009 Michael took over $170 million further in a debt. The interest on Jackson’s loans grew from 7% to 16.8% over the years. As a collateral for some of his loans, the musician used his valuable stakes from his hit songs.
On The behalf of AEG Live, public accountant William R. Ackerman during the 2013 wrongful-death trial testified, ‘Never Can Say Goodbye’ singer was “financially tapped out”. The singer’s accruing debt passed over $30 million by each passing year. After having a detailed look at singer finances, William concluded Jackson spent money on charity donations, gifts, travel, art, and furniture.
Jackson was a spiritual person, and as such typically wore ‘Jewelry’ for symbolic significance, but it did come at a cost of racking up his debt.
According to the Entertainment Weekly, On Los Angeles Superior Court, the petition was filed by attorney John Branca and A&R executive John McClain, the executors of Jackson’s estate that now worth over $2 Billion.
The executors, who successfully turned the estate into ‘profitable’ again. The petition was filed because from July to December 2018, the Jackson’s estate took services from multiple legal firms and the executors were seeking legal authorization to pay $3 million to pay for the firm’s services. In doing so, their petition revealed the nature of Jackson’s assets before and after his death.
The petition reads as follows: “The executors have faced extraordinarily challenging circumstances”. “Among other issues, at the time of Michael Jackson’s death, Michael Jackson’s most significant assets were subject to more than $500 million of debt and creditors’ claims, with some of the debt accruing interest at extremely high interest rates, and some debt in default.”
Since the Music star unexpectedly passed away in 2009 the executors have made the deceased’s estate a lucrative one. Most of it coming from estate purchase of EMI Music Publishing for $50k in 2012 and selling it to Sony for $300 million in 2018.
Tony-Award winning Broadway station MJ the Musical, and also the upcoming biopic Michael. In a result of all of this success, the executors claim in the filing “have resolved virtually all of the creditors’ claims and litigation, and have successfully solidified the MJJ business as a significant entity in the music industry.”
At the Staples Center in Los Angeles the night before his death, King of Pop went through a six-hour dress rehearsal. The artist was in preparation for This Is It (concert residency) which was going to take place at O2 Arena, London. For this concert residency, the singer wrote new songs and were going through different rehearsals to put together a perfect show. All of this was a part of Michael Jackson great comeback.
The King of Pop aka Michael Jackson passed away at the age of 50 in his rented mansion Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States on June 25, 2009, due to apparent cardiac arrest.
