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Despite record-breaking sales, Jackson died in debt

He recorded the best selling album in history. For a time, he pulled down USD50 million a year, with an overall worth reported at USD750 million. Yet when he died Thursday, Michael Jackson was deeply in debt.

Washington, June 27: He recorded the best selling album in history. For a time, he pulled down $50 million a year, with an overall worth reported at USD750 million. Yet when he died Thursday, Michael Jackson was deeply in debt.Three decades of extravagant living and legal fees from two high-profile scandals left the pop superstar owing as much as USD500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Jackson, who passed suddenly at age 50, sold more than 750 million records worldwide. He generated enormous wealth from his concert tours and catalogue holdings, but didn`t know how to spend wisely. "There was no planning in terms of allocations of how much he should spend," Alvin Malnik, a lawyer and former financial adviser to Jackson, told The New York Times in 2006. "Millions of dollars annually were spent on plane charters, purchases of antiques and paintings." Jackson did make one very shrewd business decision: in 1985 he paid USD47.5 million to acquire ATV Music, which owned the rights to 251 songs John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote with The Beatles. In 1995, he sold half of the catalogue ownership to Sony for USD150 million, but both halves remained under joint management by Sony/ATV, including Jackson`s own music. Jackson`s stake in the catalog at the time of his death was estimated at 1 billion dollars, Ivan Thornton, a private-wealth adviser who has worked with Jackson and his family, told Bloomberg financial news service. The Sony deal had helped the King of Pop maintain financial security through the late 1990s and into the 21st century, The Wall Street Journal reported, despite an expensive lifestyle that included high-class hotel fees for the singer and his entourage, impulsive purchases of art and antiques and lavish gifts for friends like actress Elizabeth Taylor. Diminished album sales took their toll as well. His 1982 album Thriller sold more than 100 million copies. By 2001, Invincible sold only 6 million copies, and cost Jackson $25 million to produce. Jackson also incurred massive settlement and legal fees stemming from two separate accusations of child-molestation. In 1993, a 13-year-old boy claimed Jackson molested him while he had been a guest at the singer`s Neverland ranch in California. Jackson vehemently denied the accusations, but is believed to have paid a USD20-million out-of-court settlement to the boy accuser to head off a criminal case against him. In 2003, Jackson was charged with intoxicating and sexually abusing a boy who had said in a documentary that he would sometimes share a bed with Jackson. He was cleared of all charges in 2005 after a high profile four-month trial. Reports of Jackson`s financial troubles began to surface in 2006. He closed the main house of Neverland ranch as a cost-cutting measure, but repeatedly failed to pay interest on the USD24.5 million he owed on the property. A last-minute re-financing agreement narrowly saved Neverland from public auction in 2008. In April, Jackson abruptly cancelled an auction of his personal memorabilia, including the crystal-covered glove he wore in the hit music video for Billie Jean and numerous musical awards. Auctioneers estimated that the 1,390 items could have raised between USD10 to 20 million to help Jackson pay down the debt on Neverland. In March the singer announced a comeback with a series of "curtain call" shows that were to be held at the O2 Arena in London in July. Some doubted whether the former superstar could still draw the crowds, but enormous demand for tickets eventually extended the run from 10 shows to 50 shows. Critics claimed that Jackson would only perform in London to rebuild his battered finances. It just might have worked. IANS