A controversial Michael Jackson documentary will air on Sunday night on HBO. The documentary is called Leaving Neverland. Michael Jackson wrote some of the most popular sogs of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, so it came as a shock that he was $500 million in debt at the time of his death. His album Thriller was the best-selling album of all time. Anyhow, his debt was paid off after his death, when he became the top earning dead celebrity.
Earnings vs Debt
1.In the period between 1985 and 1995, Michael Jackson earned between $50 and $100 million a year. .
2.Through his life, he earned about $500-600 million, and in 2009, when he died, his net worth was negative $500 million. Everyone was wondering how that was possible.
The Beatles Catalog Of Music
Michael Jackson owned the Beatles catalog of music and had a stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and that was his most valuable asset. The Beatles’ song catalogue was owned by the Australian business magnate, Robert Holmes, in 1984. ATV Music Publishing is a company that owned the rights to about 4,000 songs, and the company was formed by Holmes. Northern Songs was one of the company’s divisions which was the music publishing arm of The Beatles. Back in the days, Paul McCartney and John Lennon signed a contract that gave the publishing rights to more than 250 songs to Northern Songs. The Beatles catalogue was being put up for sale in 1984 for $40 million. Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono had intentions of buying it, but failed because the price was too high.
Michael Jackson Buying ATV Music Publishing
1.In the period between 1982 and 1984, Michael Jackson spent millions in buying publishing rights from artists including Sly and the Family Stone.
2.Great Balls Of Fire, When A Man Loves A Woman, and Runaround Sue, were just few of the hits he owned publishing rights to, at that time.
3.Jackson’s attorney, John Branca, adviced Jackson to buy the ATV catalogue too. They offered $47.5 million ($115 million today) for it. By the end of 1985, Michael Jackson was owner of the entire Beatles music catalogue.
4.In 1987, he licensed Revolution To Nike for $500,000. He got $250,000 from it, while other $250,000 was split equaly to McCartney and Lennon.
Jackson’s Collaboration With Sony
In 1995, Sony offered $95 million ($230 million today) to Michael Jackson to merge ATV music with their catalogue and create a new 50/50 owned publishing powerhouse. This collaboration earned Jackson twice his initial investment. However, he still had a 100% publishing rights to his own songs through a separate company named Mijac Music.
Net Worth
1.Michael Jackson spent lavish lifestyle which cost about $50 million a year to maintain.
2.His baby mama, Debbie Rowe, was paid out $12 million.
3.$20 million was spent on setting a child molestation case, and tens of millions on attorneys
4.$19.5 million was the price of Neverland Ranch, while $10 million a year was going for its maintainance.
5..Between $50 and $100 million was spent on movie and music projects that never got off the ground.
So, now it is way more clear why he was in big debt when he died.