New court documents reveal that Michael Jackson owed more than $500million to various creditors at the time of his death in 2009.
Earlier this week, estate executors John Branca and John McClain filed a petition with the Los Angeles Superior Court to authorise payment to several law firms for services rendered between July and December 2018.
Jackson, who died at age 50 from acute propofol intoxication, had been preparing for his This Is It residency, which added financial strain to his resources.
According to legal files obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Jackson's finances at the time of his 2009 passing were dire.
The petition reads: “The Executors have faced extraordinarily challenging circumstances.
“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.”
However, since his death, executors have turned the estate's finances around, alleging 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
A key financial move was the estate's purchase of a stake in EMI Publishing and rights to Motown classics, Carole King, and Norah Jones songs for $50,000 in 2012, which were later sold to Sony for $300 million in 2018.
Due to these and other financial gains, Branca and McClain are seeking legal approval to pay $3 million to various law firms for their services.
Additionally, recent successes like the 2022 Tony-winning Broadway show MJ the Musical and the upcoming Michael biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua, starring Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson and Oscar nominee Coleman Domingo, have further contributed to the estate's financial turnaround.
