As I have previously discussed, 60 Minutes had an exclusiveon Michael Jackson’s estate. The Michael Jackson brand is making more money nowthat any single artist has made in the past four years. However, it has notbeen easy. After Jackson died he left over half a billion dollars in debt. Hespent most of the money on Neverland, antiques, maintenance, and his entourage.Jackson was borrowing against his assets and used his music catalogues ascollateral. Jackson first purchased Sly & the Family Stone catalog, and afew other classic rock catalogues. Then Jackson became part owner of ATV Musicby the Beatles. It cost him $47.5 million dollars for 50% of the catalogue. WhenJackson died, he had borrowed over $380 million dollars against his musicassets.
Since Jackson’s death, his belongings are being sorted and storedin warehouses. The executor’s team found personal videos of Jackson preparingfor his last tour in his belongings. Using those compilations, producers made amovie called “This is It.“ To date the movie has brought in $500 million dollars.In Vegas, Cirque du Soleil is working on a new production called MichaelJackson One which highlights classic Jackson choreography. There have been manyfrivolous claims filed against Michael’s estate and his team of executors hasto defend each one.
See Michael Jackson’s Lucrative Legacy, CBS News, May 19, 2013.
