Michael Jackson owed more than $500m to various creditors at the time of his death , new court documents have revealed. Earlier this week, Attorney John Branca and A&R executive John McClain, the executives of the late pop star’s estate, filed a petition to the Los Angeles Superior Court seeking legal authorization to pay several law firms for their services rendered to the estate from July through December 2018. In the legal files obtained by Entertainment Weekly , the nature of Jackson’s finances before and since his 2009 passing is detailed.
“The Executors have faced extraordinarily challenging circumstances,” the petition reads. “Among other issues, at the time of Michael Jackson’s death, Michael Jackson’s most significant assets were subject to more than $500 million of debt and creditors’ claims, with some of the debt accruing interest at extremely high interest rates, and some debt in default.” Before his death at age 50 from acute propofol intoxication, Jackson had been in the middle of preparing for his This Is It residency, which also added financial strain on his resources.
However, in the years since his death, the executors have extensively turned his estate’s financial system around, claiming that they “have resolved virtually all of the creditors’ claims and litigations and have successfully solidified the MJJ business as a significant entity in the music industry.” Part of this money comes from the estate’s purchase of a stake in EM.
