The 2015 accounts for the late star’s estate have shown an upturn in fortunes
The estate of Michael Jackson is currently earning more money than the late artist did when he was alive, according to newly-released court documents.
Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50, reportedly faced debts of up to $500 million (£388 million) at the time of his death. The aforementioned documents claim, however, that the executors of his estate have “disposed of most of the creditors’ claims” – but some debts still remain.
However, as reported by The Mirror, Jackson’s estate earned $74 million (£57.4 million) in 2015. The details have come to light in a 73-page court document which was filed at a Los Angeles court by his executors.
Those earnings include publishing rights, which brought in $2,448,584.99 (£1.9 million) in that year. Jackson’s merchandising arm, Triumph International, was the biggest-earner for the estate during that time period, bringing in $18.8 million (£14.5 million).
The documents also shed light on some of the estate’s expenditures, which include a $10.8 million (£8.3 million) bill on a house for Jackson’s children and $1 million (£776,000) in medical bills for his mother, Katherine.
In other Jackson news, his estate and Sony Music have both been cleared from a long-running lawsuit which claims that three of the tracks on the posthumous album ‘Michael’ didn’t actually feature the late artist’s vocals.
