Jackson lived like king but died awash in debt

[jeffrey]

Michael Jackson the singer was also Michael Jackson the billion-dollar business.

Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the "King of Pop" died Thursday at age 50 reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal...

Jackson lived like king but died awash in debt - Kansas City Star

[happygirl]

So sad. I always wonder how a rich person can live with spending such extreme amounts of money on things. I mean really, spending 10,000$ on a purse? Why not spend 1,000$ and give the other 9,000$ to a program that will help homeless children or something?

You can still have tons of luxuries, but some of the wasteful spending just seems like a slap in the face to those going without basic necessities through little or no fault of their own.

How does one even spend 400,000,000$ I don't think I could.

[GREENBACK]

Things like Never land and his whole ranch/complex are excessive even for him. Complex person with many issues and a sad ending. I pass no judgement on him as he was a victim of the spotlight from an early age an probably didn't have the first clue about his personal finances.

[croland]

I agree with Greenback, he probably didn't have a chance when it came to managing his personal finances. I think at a certain point he probably didn't think he would ever run out of money. It would be interesting to look into the minds of this type of individuals because like RedThunderBird said, Michael Jackson had 39 charities and these types are major donors to great organizations.

These types meaning individuals who have a ton of income but low net worth.

[Broken Arrow]

Here's something interesting. Although his debt was high, his assets are higher. (There are similar sources, but Luxist had the most condensed version.)

According to the link, Neverland ranch could be worth anywhere from $70 to $90 million. His co-ownership of the Beatles' songs, as well as his own, are supposedly worth anywhere from $500 million to $1 billion. And if he had been able to go on tour, that could net him another $50 million to $400 million.

Add it all up, and... even $500 million of debt doesn't seem so bad! In fact, from a business stand-point, all the scandals that tarnished him as a brand probably hurt his bottom line more than anything.

Well anyway, may he rest in peace....

[thrifty1978]

I'm in agreement with Happy Girl on this one. It was simply excessive of the vulgar kind.

[zakity]

I wonder if Neverland will be turned into a tourist attraction like Graceland is.

[GREENBACK]

Originally Posted by zakity

I wonder if Neverland will be turned into a tourist attraction like Graceland is.

Probably depends on who actually was in control of it and what is in his will. There could be a gigantic mess with this and many aspects of his estate.

[Rande273]

I'm not sure if he will be remembered as Hero or Zero.

[whitestripe]

Originally Posted by thrifty1978

I'm in agreement with Happy Girl on this one. It was simply excessive of the vulgar kind.

ummmm, hello? --

Originally Posted by RedThunderBird

Well he had 39 charities , that helped many people in need . That was probably one of the main reasons he got himself in trouble , not knowing when to say no to the requests of so many people who knew he had a lot of money , and that could happen to any one .