Jackson lived like king but in millions of debt

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-01 13:39

LOS ANGELES: When Michael Jackson moved into a mansion in Beverly Hills in 2004 owned by Chinese painter Ding Shaoguang, he was escorted by dozens of people.

Jackson lived like king but in millions of debt

A memorial is seen as people wait in line to enter the Michael Jackson public memorial at Apollo Theater in New York June 30, 2009. The Apollo will welcome fans 600 at a time to to enter the theater to pay their respects, hear Jackson's music spun by New York DJs and see a a video tribute to the late pop star. [Agencies]

Some Chinese workers working at the mansion recalled that Jackson was really treated like a king.

Actually at that time, Jackson was forced to move out of his US$14. 6 million home at Neverland after the court sealed his mansion after being prosecuted for child molestation. He rented Ding's 40,000-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills with a monthly payment of US$75,000.

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But after six months, Jackson stopped paying Ding any rent. Troubled with the lawsuit, Jackson was in deep financial crisis. Three months later, Jackson was still unable to pay for the rent. He was asked to move out of Ding's mansion.

That vividly echoed Jackson's life in his remaining years: he lived like a king but in millions of debt.

It is speculated that the King of Pop died of tremendous financial pressure. He had to make money to pay for the huge debt and was busy practicing his July performances before his death.

As a pop star, making money seemed too easy for him, and he spent too much. Too many people tried to get money from him and too many lawsuits had troubled him.

As the King of Pop, Jackson was a billion-dollar brand creating the best selling album of all time.

In 1981, the moon-walking pop star drove the growth of music videos, vaulting cable channel MTV into the popular mainstream. In 1982 his hit "Thriller" became the second best-selling US album of all time.

Five years later, "Bad" sold 22 million copies.

In 1991, he signed a 65 million-dollar recording deal with Sony.

In 1986, The Walt Disney Co. opened a 3-D movie at its parks called "Captain EO."

In 1985, Jackson's 47.5 million-dollar acquisition of ATV Music was considered as one of his shrewdest deals at the height of his fame. ATV Music owned the copyright to songs written by the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The catalog provided Jackson a steady stream of income and the ability to afford a lavish lifestyle.

In 1988 he spent 14.6 million dollars to purchase a 2,500-acre Neverland ranch nestled in the hills of Santa Barbara County's wine country in California. No one knows how much money he had spent in that ranch. He built that ranch into a family zoo with animals like tigers, giraffes, orangutans, reptiles, monkeys and other exotic creatures.

He also adopted many children and let them stay in his ranch to enjoy a fantasy life.

Everyone knew that Jackson was rich, and many people wished to get a share of his wealth through all means. To file lawsuits against him was one of the ways to get rich quickly.

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