Michael Jackson’s business mess

For the latter part of his life, Michael Jackson has been mired in controversy. But for the last few years, Jackson was also mired in debt and battle over his estate is likely to be very messy.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Jackson’s debt was around $500 million when he died this morning. A large part of this debt was a $200 million loan secured against his biggest asset – a 50% interest in the publishing rights to his own music and 251 compositions by the world’s biggest ever pop group, The Beatles.

There are estimates that this asset alone is worth $US1 billion (putting the value of Jackson’s stake at around $US500 million).

While that is pretty impressive, considering Jackson picked up the Beatles back-catalogue for just $47.5 million in 1985, the size and prominence of the asset means there is likely to be one hell of a fight as creditors scramble for a piece of the action.

Jackson’s new tour was supposed to solve a lot of his financial problems, or at least help pay for his apparently lavish lifestyle (for some more info on Jackson’s financial habits, check out this great Forbes article from 2003).

The tour was also supposed to represent a triumphant farewell for Jackson. But now the lawyers are likely to have the last word.