The king is dead?

[jimmy olsen]

I was thinking last night that, while MJ might have been close to broke prior to his death, his estate sure as fuck won't be due to all the fanbois going nuts over his shit.  That is, it sure as fuck won't be till the family gets its hands on it.

Apparently he's not so poor as has been suspected.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31566907/ns/business-businessweekcom/

Settling Jackson's estate could be a thriller
Singer's assets include share in music publishing firm worth $500 million

By Christopher Palmeri
updated 11:57 a.m. ET, Fri., June 26, 2009

The King of Pop will likely leave behind one royal estate battle.

Michael Jackson, the onetime child star whose string of hit songs got people boogying from Boise to Bahrain, died suddenly Thursday after being rushed to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles in a coma. The singer faced a near-constant drumbeat of legal troubles in life. He'll likely cue up plenty of them in death as well.

Although he sold hundreds of millions of records, Jackson's biggest financial hit was a 50 percent interest in a music publishing catalog that includes the rights to the Beatles' songs.

Jackson, 50, always stayed one beat ahead of a conga line of creditors. At every turn there seemed to be one more wealthy benefactor to bail him out. Most recently that was Thomas Barrack, the founder of the Los Angeles real estate investment firm Colony Capital. Last year, Barrack purchased Jackson's Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif., for $22 million, just before the property was sold at auction to cover back debts.

Barrack also brought in Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, who was helping finance a comeback for the singer. Jackson was scheduled to play a series of 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena, which Anschutz owns. The concerts, for which Jackson was to be paid $1 million per night, were to begin July 13. Spokespeople for both Barrack and Anschutz's entertainment business declined to comment.

A genius of a songwriter and performer, Jackson was not so in tune with his personal finances. At one point the star owed more than $270 million to Bank of America. In 2005 the bank sold that debt at a discount to the private equity firm Fortress Investment Group.

Jackson, who reportedly spent as much as $30 million a year during the good times on clothes, travel, and toys for his ranch, successfully fought an attempt to auction many of his personal possessions earlier this year. Over the years those suing Jackson for past-due bills included his former publicist, video director, attorney, and financial advisers.

Not much is known about Jackson's estate planning or will. He leaves behind three children and his well-known brothers, sisters, mother, and father. The star had one asset that will likely be the target of much maneuvering by creditors and heirs in the coming months and years—his 50 percent interest in the Sony/ATV music catalog. Shortly after his string of early 1980s hits that included Thriller, one of the best-selling albums of all time, Jackson was shrewdly advised to buy the Beatles catalog for $47 million. Ten years later, Jackson merged his music company with Sony Corp.'s music publishing arm in a deal reportedly worth $90 million to him.

Today, that company owns the publishing rights to thousands of hit songs by everyone from Neil Diamond to Lady Gaga. Jackson's half interest has been estimated to be worth as much as $500 million. Jackson's own hits are owned by a separate company, also now part of his estate. But like his life, Jackson's estate is unlikely to be settled without controversy.


Copyright © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

[DGuller]

I was thinking last night that, while MJ might have been close to broke prior to his death, his estate sure as fuck won't be due to all the fanbois going nuts over his shit.  That is, it sure as fuck won't be till the family gets its hands on it.

Those fucks sure are sure.

[Habbaku]

I wonder how his children will turn out.

[derspiess]

um, don't be so shocked, Tim.  this kinda shit happens when most celebs die. 

Yeah, I've got some selected baseball cards ready to drop on ebay at a moment's notice 

[derspiess]

I wonder how his children will turn out.

Mostly white, so far.

[jimmy olsen]

um, don't be so shocked, Tim.  this kinda shit happens when most celebs die. 

Maybe this is just the 1st celebrity to kick the bucket that I'm really interested in but I think it's extreme even by the normal celebrity standards.

[Ed Anger]

I wonder how his children will turn out.

Mostly white, so far.

[Caliga]

um, don't be so shocked, Tim.  this kinda shit happens when most celebs die. 

Maybe this is just the 1st celebrity to kick the bucket that I'm really interested in but I think it's extreme even by the normal celebrity standards.

Same thing happened with Kurt Cobain, dude.  The day after he dies, everyone is suddenly a Nirvana fan.

[derspiess]

Maybe this is just the 1st celebrity to kick the bucket that I'm really interested in but I think it's extreme even by the normal celebrity standards.

What about all the rappers who sold platinum albums that were released after they died? 

[Savonarola]

Same thing happened with Kurt Cobain, dude.  The day after he dies, everyone is suddenly a Nirvana fan.

He gave voice to a generation.

[derspiess]

Same thing happened with Kurt Cobain, dude.  The day after he dies, everyone is suddenly a Nirvana fan.

I was guilty of that

[jimmy olsen]

Maybe this is just the 1st celebrity to kick the bucket that I'm really interested in but I think it's extreme even by the normal celebrity standards.

What about all the rappers who sold platinum albums that were released after they died? 

That's new material though, not records that have already sold a 100 million copies.

[Neil]

Same thing happened with Kurt Cobain, dude.  The day after he dies, everyone is suddenly a Nirvana fan.

He gave voice to a generation.

And that voice was:

[jimmy olsen]

MTV had a color barrier? Wow, I never knew that.

Only in an MSNBC writer's imagination.

Only?
http://news.google.com/news?q=mtv%20color%20barrier&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS232&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn

[Habsburg]

Making fun of that show is always good.

I hate all CSNCIS2x12WTFBBQ [insert U.S. city] shows.

See, but that one's the best to make fun of, because David Caruso is super overdramatic.

He went to the same acting school as Glenn Close, Sean Penn, and Al Pacino.