Michael Jackson’s debts and creditors’ claims at the time of his death in 2009 totaled more than $500 million, according to a court filing filed by the pop superstar’s estate that provides details of his financial problems toward the end. of their life.
Jackson owed about $40 million to tour promoter AEG, according to the filing, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court this month and was previously reported by People magazine. The filing said that 65 creditors filed claims against the singer after his death, some of which led to lawsuits, and that some of his debt had been “accumulating interest at extremely high interest rates.”
A representative of Jackson’s estate, executed by John Branca and John McClain, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The estate filed the court papers as a request to authorize payment of about $3.5 million to various law firms for their work in the second half of 2018.
In the court filing, the executors say they have eliminated debt from the estate and that nearly all creditor claims and litigation have been resolved.
Jackson earned hundreds of millions of dollars throughout the 1980s and 1990s as the creator of some of the best-selling albums of all time, along with dazzling concert tours that filled stadiums around the world. He purchased the Beatles’ song catalog for $47.5 million in 1985 and then sold it to Sony/ATV Music in exchange for a 50 percent stake in the company. Sony bought back the equity stake for $750 million in 2016.
But when Jackson died at age 50, shortly before embarking on a tour called This Is It, he left behind a tangle of assets and liabilities.
Jackson was known for his lavish lifestyle and spending spree. He ran up millions of dollars in debt from his Neverland Ranch estate in Los Angeles and had a penchant for expensive art, jewelry and private jets. He was paying more than $30 million a year in interest payments, a forensic accountant testified during a 2013 wrongful death trial in which AEG prevailed.
Jackson’s estate is currently in a dispute with the IRS following a tax audit. In a separate court filing this year, the estate said the federal agency accused it of undervaluing his assets and said he owed “an additional $700 million in taxes and fines.”
Kirsten Noyes Contributed to the investigation.
