Michael Jackson’s debts and creditor claims at the time of his death in 2009 totaled more than $500 million, according to a court filing by the pop star’s heirs that details his financial troubles at the end of his life.
Jackson owed about $40 million to AEG, the tour promoter, according to a filing filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court this month. It was previously reported by People magazineThe filing said 65 creditors filed claims against the singer after his death, some of which led to lawsuits, and that some of his debts were “accumulating interest at very high interest rates.”
A representative for Jackson’s estate, executed by John Branca and John McClain, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The estate has filed court papers as a request to authorize payment of about $3.5 million to several law firms for their work in the second half of 2018.
In the court filing, the executors say they have eliminated the estate’s debts and that all creditor claims and lawsuits have been virtually 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 bought the Beatles’ song catalog for $47.5 million in 1985 and later sold it to Sony/ATV Music for a 50 percent stake in the company. Sony bought back a stake in the property for $750 million in 2016.
But when Jackson died at age 50, shortly before he was due to start his live show called “This Is It,” he left behind a tangled web of assets and liabilities.
Jackson was famous for his lavish lifestyle and was a relentless spender of his money. He ran up millions of dollars in debt from his Neverland Ranch property in Southern California 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 dispute with the IRS following a tax audit. In a separate lawsuit filed in court this yearThe estate said the federal agency accused it of undervaluing its assets and said it owed “an additional $700 million in taxes and penalties.”
Kirsten Noyes Contributed to research.
