LOS ANGELES— There was more than $500 million in debt for Michael Jackson when he died in 2009, before he was supposed to go on a music tour.
This is what the “King of Pop”‘s” deep financial hole looked like in a petition that his administrators filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
“When Michael Jackson died, his most valuable assets were subject to more than $500 million in debt and creditors’ claims,” the filing said. “Some of the debt was accruing interest at very high rates, and some of the debt was in default.”
Before he died on June 25, 2009, Jackson was getting ready to start a tour called This Is It.
It was planned that the tour would include a huge 50 shows at London’s O2 Arena.
The statement said that because he died just before the tour started, his estate owed $40 million to AEG, the company that put on the tour.
The document asks for Jackson’s estate’s money to be used to pay back the trustees’ lawyers for legal services and other costs in 2018.
The letter also said that Jackson was being sued in several states and countries when he died. The filing said that more lawsuits were filed after more than 65 claims from creditors were made.
The filing did say that the executors had settled or won most of the lawsuits and claims from debtors.
Jackson, who was 50 years old, died at his home in Los Angeles from being severely high on propofol. In 2011, his doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, was found guilty of killing by involuntary means for giving him the drug.
Jackson had a very successful career. He won 13 Grammy Awards, was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame twice, and sold more than 400 million songs.
Source: NBC