Michael Jackson died in a staggering amount of debt with his abandoned Neverland Ranch serving as a haunting reminder of his extravagant pop star past.
On leaving his fantasy land behind, Jackson downsized to a rented mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles where he spent his final days before dying from an overdose of surgical anesthetic Propofol.
It was during the star’s wrongful death trial, that his ‘precarious’ finances were laid bare by experts.
The news had been surprising for fans, given that Jackson had been in showbiz since the age of six and at the top of his game for decades after.
As well as countless sellout world tours and lucrative endorsement deals, Jackson was also the owner of a multi million pound music catalogue -that included his own work and that of artists such as The Beatles – but incredibly, the wealth he was bringing in with royalties was said to have been nothing compared to the incredible amount of debt he was simultaneously racking up.
A forensic accountant asked to speak at the 2013 trial, told how Jacko blew his fortune on gifts, travel, art, zoo animals, jewellery and furniture – as well as making huge donations to numerous charities.
William R. Ackerman described Jackson as being in a ‘precarious financial position’ as he spoke to the Los Angeles courtroom about the singer’s money woes in defence of AEG Live in the wrongful-death trial.
