Court documents have shed light on some details of the King of Pop’s post-mortem accounts. Since Jackson passed away in 2009, his legacy has reportedly brought in over $900 million, making him one of the richest dead celebrities.
Michael Jackson is earning more after his death than he did in life, according to the reports.
The newly-released documents, which were filed with an LA court by his executives, contain figures for the 2015 accounts. According to them, Michael’s estate acquired 74 million that year, including $18.8 million from merchandising, and shy of $2.5 million from publishing rights.
His gross earnings are understood to have exceeded $900 million since his death in 2009.
This apparently has helped his family have a care-free life, as the 2015 spending included a $10.8 million house for the children and nearly $1 million in health fees, allowance and expenses for his 88-year old mother, in addition to minor expenditures such as luxurious holidays to destinations like Hawaii for his children and pricey vehicles for his entourage.
Jackson, who died from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol in 2009 at the age of 50, was said to have had debts of up to $500 million at the time of his death. The court papers claim, however, that his executors have “disposed of most of the creditors’ claims.”
One of his promoters said during a wrongful death civil trial in 2013 that the King of Pop was in desperate need of cash months before his death, and couldn’t even afford a house for him and his children, who were “living like vagabonds.”
In 2017, however, Forbes reported that Jackson topped the list of world’s highest-paid dead celebrities for the fifth year in a row, with earnings of $75 million.
