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Michael Jackson Was Over $500 Million in Debt at Time of Death, New Court Documents Reveal

Singer Michael Jackson was nearly $500 million in debt at the time of his death, and the executors of his estate have filed a petition for back pay from 2018, after rebuilding his estate to a value of $2 billion.

He owed roughly $40 million to concert promoter AEG, according to the recent probate petition, "and [there was] little hope of generating income from [Jackson's] already highly leveraged assets." As a result of negotiations with Sony in 2012, the executors also obtained an interest in EMI Music Publishing (which owns copyrights for songs by Carole King, Norah Jones and the Motown classics), according to the petition. The two alleged victims featured in the bombshell four-hour HBO documentary Leaving Neverland —who both claimed Michael Jackson sexually molested them when they were children — will have their case tried against the late King of Pop's companies.

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