Who knew that Michael Jackson was one of the wealthiest Black Americans? According to TheBlackEconomy.com Wealthiest Black’s List, he was nowhere to be found. With so much attention on his legal bouts, real estate foreclosure, and relentless debt negotiations, the King of Pop was asset rich, but cash poor.

Less than a week after Michael’s death, the Associated Press claimed his estate showed a net worth of $235 million, but less than $700,000 in cash. Although $700,000 in cash may be considered light years away from being cash poor, it depends on the cost of one’s lifestyle. The King was indeed living up to this name, leasing a $100,000 a month Bel-Air mansion in west Los Angels, so he could be close to all the entertainment action. 

The home he was leasing was a French chateau estate built in 2002 and has seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater. Truly sounding like it was fit for a King, but with only $700,000 in cash and slow money from royalties, Mike could have been considered living paycheck-to-paycheck.

In order to understand how all the financial issues began for arguably the greatest entertainer ever that ever lived, let’s take a look back at the King of Pop’s financial life. Jackson started earning money as a child pop star with the Jackson 5, but artist royalties at Motown were known to be “crumbs,” and the Jacksons did not start making “real money” until they signed to CBS Records in 1975, where they guaranteed a fee of at least $350,00 per album. However, after Michael went solo and recorded the Thriller album, in which according to the New York Times he received $125 million (pre-expense), his wealth began to skyrocket.

In 1985, Michael made the best investment move of his life, when he purchased a 50 percent stake in the Sony/ATV music catalogue for roughly $50 million. The catalogue is currently comprised of approximately 750,000 songs including The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga, the Jonas Brothers and Michael’s master recordings. The catalogue is estimated to be worth roughly $2 billion.

In 1988, as his music career catapulted and he continued to stack cash, he purchased a $17 million property near Santa Ynez, California that the world would know as Neverland Ranch. It wasn’t until the 90’s that Michael started to encounter a “cash flow crunch.” After the album Dangerous was released in 1991, he stopped recording on a regular basis and settled a child molestation lawsuit for reportedly $20-million. Then their were reports that he blew $6 million in one store, spent $8 million annually on travel, and at one point lost $50 million on high risk investments.

People knew Michael was in financial trouble when he sold a stake of his interest in the ATV music catalogue to Sony for $100 million. By the late 90’s Michael had taken out several multi-million dollar loans, including a $200-million loan from Bank of America pledging his interest in the catalogue as collateral. Drowning in debt, he renegotiated the terms of his loans with the bittersweet help of Sony, who secured a right to purchase half of Michael’s stake in the ATV catalogue for a mere $250 million.

Currently Michael’s estate is estimated to have a net worth over $500 million. The bulk of his assets come from the estimated $1 billion ATV catalogue, which will continue to increase in value since the death of the pop icon has resulted in 2 million album sales two weeks after he died. The estate administrators are also preparing to auction off more than 150 unreleased songs recorded and stored away before his death. 

Mike was the “King” and lived like a king, but it goes to show that no matter how “rich” an individual looks on the outside (clothing, cars, houses etc.) until you look at their financial statements, they could be living a financial fairy tale in Neverland. Despite his financial issues, Mike has and always will be an inspiration for achieving greatness. RIP Mike, only god can judge you!

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