Pop Goes the King – Why was the King of Pop in debt of millions of Dollars

According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, Pop star Michael Jackson may have had debts of up to $500 million (U.S) when he died of a reported heart attack last week, the result of bad business decisions, associated lawsuits and a lavish, often whimsical jet-setting lifestyle with an entourage of security, personal assistants and careers for his three children in the mid-1980s without the vibrant musical career to sustain it.

What made Michael Jackson rich?

• As a pop star Michael Jackson made money easily: As the King of Pop, Jackson was a billion-dollar brand creating the best selling album of all time
• In 1981, the moon-walking Michael Jackson drove the growth of music videos, vaulting cable channel MTV into the popular mainstream.
• In 1982 Michael Jackson’s hit ‘Thriller’ became the second best-selling U.S. album of all time
• Five years later, Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ sold 22 million copies
• In 1991, Michael Jackson signed a 65 million-dollar recording deal with Sony
• In 1986, The Walt Disney Co. opened a 3-D movie at its parks called the Captain EO
• In 1985, Michael Jackson's 47.5 million-dollar acquisition of ATV Music was considered to be yet another of his shrewdest deals
• ATV Music owned the copyright to songs written by the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney

What caused Michael Jackson meltdown?

•  Michael Jackson’s meltdown started to show when his parents, Joe and Katherine, filed for bankruptcy, claiming debts of $45 million and assets of around $400,000
•  ‘Michael Jackson is a ticking financial time bomb, waiting to explode at any moment,’: According to a lawsuit that sought to freeze Jackson's Neverland assets
•  The company behind the lawsuit said it arranged $230 million in loans for Michael Jackson between 1998 and 2000, and he owes them $12 million: Michael Jackson used much of the money to refinance earlier loans
• Michael Jackson he paid for many lawsuits to steer clear of them: In 1993, Michael Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy. He settled with the boy's family with an undisclosed .amount
• This case encouraged more lawsuits to follow against him: As an aftermath, Michael Jackson records were not selling the way they were sold
•  In 1988 Michael Jackson spent 14.6 million dollars to purchase a 2,500-acre Neverland ranch: He built that ranch into a family zoo with animals like tigers, giraffes, orangutans, reptiles, monkeys and other exotic creatures
•  He defaulted on a $24.5 million loan backed by his famous Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara
•  Reportedly, Michael Jackson Neverland had a staff of 150,and cost $10 million a year to maintain. Among the $35 million worth of amenities Michael Jackson added were amusement park rides, a zoo, a go kart track and two separate railway lines, big enough to accommodate full-sized antique steam engines
•  Michael Jackson was planning to make it into a safari-type ranch with some of its quirky features, and then put the 2,600 acre on the estate on the market for $70 million to $90 million. It was bought in 1987 for $19.5 million
•  Michael Jackson also adopted many children and let them stay in his ranch to enjoy a fantasy life.
•  Al Khalifa, 33, claimed he gave Michael Jackson millions of dollars to help shore up his 300,000 dollars for a ‘motivational guru’ settled for an undisclosed amount
•  In 2003, Michael Jackson was arrested on charges of molesting yet another 13-year-old boy and was forced to leave his Neverland ranch and moved to a mansion rented from Ding in Beverly Hills
•  After six months, Michael Jackson stopped paying Ding rent because of the lawsuits that drove him into deep financial crisis: Three months later Jackson was asked to move out of Ding's mansion as he failed to pay the rent
•  Although the case of child molestation ended with an acquittal, Michael Jackson hit the rock bottom of financial crisis: He spent millions in defense of the case
•  Even before his 2003 lawsuit, Jackson began to borrow large sums of money: A lawsuit filed by Union Finance & Investment Corp. sought 12 million dollars in unpaid fees and expenses
•  Michael Jackson was reportedly spending 20 million to 30 million dollars more than he earned per year brewing up a cash crisis for a long time
•  Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Colony Capital LLC bought the loan note for $23 million and put the title into a joint venture it formed with the singer, Michael Jackson
•  Michael Jackson moved into a mansion in Beverly Hills in 2004 owned by Chinese painter Ding Shaoguang Hwen with a monthly payment of 75,000 dollars after his 14. 6 million U.S. dollars home at Neverland was sealed after being prosecuted for child molestation

Though the King went Pop with an estimated debt of 500 million dollars, his children would live to lead a lifestyle their father allowed them while he was alive.

Michael Jackson’s children will remain solvent for the following reasons:

•  As the world mourns this pop king, Michael Jackson’s songs were sold in a rage all over the world
•  According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Michael Jackson Jackson’s most valuable assets – the music copyrights that include 251 Beatles songs and as his own compositions may well exceed his debt
•  Twenty one pieces of Michael Jackson memorabilia - including a crystal beaded shirt worn by him during his 1984 Victory tour - fetched $205,000 in Las Vegas last Friday, one day after his death.
•  The Amazon website also reported huge sales of Michael Jackson Jackson’s music after the public announcement of his death

Opportunities stolen away from Michael Jackson by his Death at a prime age of 50:

•  The other a venue with which Michael Jackson had hoped to raise significant funds was through 50 concerts at London’s O2 arena over the course of this summer. This could have netted Michael Jackson up to $50 million
•  Further successful dates in Europe, north America and Asia may have brought Michael Jackson up to $400 million, concert promoters had predicted

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/SavingandDebt/P75072.asp?Printer

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/30/content_11625764.htm

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=WORLD-qqqs=news-qqqid=42742-qqqx=1.asp