Net worth at time of death; U.S. federal estate tax problems

On July 26, 2013, the executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson filed a petition in the United States Tax Court as a result of a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over U.S. federal estate taxes imposed on the value of Jackson's Estate at the time of his death.[459] The executors claim that the Estate was worth about $7 million. The IRS asserts that the Estate was worth over $1.1 billion, and that over $700 million in federal estate taxes (including penalties) are due.[359] A trial was held from February 6 to 24, 2017.[460] As of early July 2017, no decision has been rendered.

In 2016, Forbes magazine estimated annual gross earnings by the Jackson Estate at $825 million, the largest ever recorded for a celebrity. The majority was due to the sale of the Sony/ATV catalog. It marked the seventh consecutive year since his death where Jackson's annual earnings were over $100 million.[17]

Earnings after death

Good Gracious that is some CASH! How much of that money goes to his Children? Or who all gets a Cut of that money from his Estate?

And how did he make so much in 2010 (275,000,000 Mill)??? 2016 enormous amount is explained with sale of the Sony/ATV catalog. But the 2010 amnount, wow?

Astasheiks said:

And how did he make so much in 2010 (275,000,000 Mill)??? 2016 enormous amount is explained with sale of the Sony/ATV catalog. But the 2010 amnount, wow?

When he passed, a lot of people started buying his physical albums and the This Is It movie was a box office hit

As Whoopi Goldberg said, "MJ is the gift that keeps giving and giving". Given that MJ had incredible debt when he died and owed money against the ATV catalog that he had borrowed against, the fact that within a year or two (an incredibly quick turnaround) the estate had paid off debtors and gotten back in the black is astounding.

I remember going to FYE for whatever and going to the MJ section and it was so empty. It really hit me at that moment just how loved he was by fans. Some would think his popularity declined in recent years, but everything with MJs name on it was gone that week.

On another note, I saw a meme the other day that said, "Why is the press trying to find who is going to be the next Michael Jackon when they treated the original one like shit?"

MickyDolenz said:

Astasheiks said:

And how did he make so much in 2010 (275,000,000 Mill)??? 2016 enormous amount is explained with sale of the Sony/ATV catalog. But the 2010 amnount, wow?

When he passed, a lot of people started buying his physical albums and the This Is It movie was a box office hit

I see, that makes sense now .... Passed in summer '09 so those purchases by people from June to Dec. '09 are counted into 2010.

MickyDolenz said:

Astasheiks said:

And how did he make so much in 2010 (275,000,000 Mill)??? 2016 enormous amount is explained with sale of the Sony/ATV catalog. But the 2010 amnount, wow?

When he passed, a lot of people started buying his physical albums and the This Is It movie was a box office hit

Also, since there was so much merchandise that was to be sold during the o2 shows, they put it on the MJ online store and in retail stores like Sears, JC Pennys, Macys, and Hot Topic, where it sold like crazy (I should know, I was picking up a shirt with every paycheck )

While the releases haven't been steller (who releases a VHS rip of a concert?!) the quality has been there enough to sell and they've done some really interesting licensing deals. The recent deal with Supreme is an example.

So much money just in 2016?

214 said:

So much money just in 2016?

Yeah, The One musical and probably some revenue generated from ATV if it was sold. Weren't there some mj jackets distributed too?

Also I can see him top the list again next year for The One (and the thriller musical in London, and Motown musical if the estate got a payout for using j5 material), the hot topic bad shirt, and for whatever momentum he generated with that halloween movie and musical accompaniment. Though I don't care to support it, business wise objectively, it was a clever move for his cash cow name, but can also minimize him to a halloween act further without having say in it.

[Edited 11/18/17 18:37pm]

I'm critical of his estate and how they've handled his catalog BUT they've been making serious money:

-This Is It the movie and soundtrack being incredibly successful. The movie made over $260 million and is the highest grossing concert film of all time. The soundtrack reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and R&B chart.The soundtrack reached the top 5 in 28 countries.

-Michael Jackson's Vision reached #2 on the Billboard DVD chart

-Michael, even with the controversy, reached #3 on the US chart and #4 in the UK. According to Chartmasters, has sold 2.3 million copies

-Bad 25 reached #23 and #46 in the US and #6 in the UK

-Live at Wembley: July 16, 1988 reached #1 on the US DVD chart and #2 in the UK

-the Bad 25 and Journey from Motown to Off The Wall documentaries being shown in film festivals as well as ABC and Showtime

-Xscape reached #2 in the US and #1 in the UK

-Scream and Immortal being a moderate sellers

-The Halloween special doing well in the ratings.

-The Cirque shows

-There's been the deals in the past 8 years with Pepsi, Hot Toys, Supreme, Stance, Funko Pop, Playmates, Ubisoft....

His catalog sales are incredibly strong 8 years since his death.

bboy87 said:

purple05 said:

bboy87 said:

I'm critical of his estate and how they've handled his catalog BUT they've been making serious money:

-This Is It the movie and soundtrack being incredibly successful. The movie made over $260 million and is the highest grossing concert film of all time. The soundtrack reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and R&B chart.The soundtrack reached the top 5 in 28 countries.

-Michael Jackson's Vision reached #2 on the Billboard DVD chart

-Michael, even with the controversy, reached #3 on the US chart and #4 in the UK. According to Chartmasters, has sold 2.3 million copies

-Bad 25 reached #23 and #46 in the US and #6 in the UK

-Live at Wembley: July 16, 1988 reached #1 on the US DVD chart and #2 in the UK

-the Bad 25 and Journey from Motown to Off The Wall documentaries being shown in film festivals as well as ABC and Showtime

-Xscape reached #2 in the US and #1 in the UK

-Scream and Immortal being a moderate sellers

-The Halloween special doing well in the ratings.

-The Cirque shows

-There's been the deals in the past 8 years with Pepsi, Hot Toys, Supreme, Stance, Funko Pop, Playmates, Ubisoft....

His catalog sales are incredibly strong 8 years since his death.

I think what really helped MJs estate is that his catalog sales have always been pretty strong.

I agree. Thriller is #185 on the Billboard 200 this week in the US and Number Ones is #55 on the UK chart. People continue to discover his work

bboy87 said:

purple05 said:

bboy87 said: I think what really helped MJs estate is that his catalog sales have always been pretty strong.

I agree. Thriller is #185 on the Billboard 200 this week in the US and Number Ones is #55 on the UK chart. People continue to discover his work

This is fucking insane I wish Prince's estate would do more so that more people discover his lwork :/

ThatWhiteDude said:

bboy87 said:

I agree. Thriller is #185 on the Billboard 200 this week in the US and Number Ones is #55 on the UK chart. People continue to discover his work

This is fucking insane I wish Prince's estate would do more so that more people discover his lwork :/

When all the legal dust settles, I'm sure Prince's estate will work out some things that'll be lucrative, but it depends on if those deals will just bring in money or bring in money and add to Prince's legacy. I think it would be cool to have a Prince shirt line. Great merch as well as putting all of this out of print material back in stores (like the Lovesexy concert in Germany or the 1986 show in Detroit. Put those on DVD)

Don't sell him out. I'm not trying to see Prince candles

bboy87 said:

ThatWhiteDude said:

I wish Prince's estate would do more so that more people discover his lwork :/

Prince didn't help his own cause by banning his music from the internet. Youtube is where the younger generation listens to music. They generally don't buy CDs. Napster was the beginning of that. Billboard now uses streming as part of their chart criteria. The name "Prince" is not really a help either. Prince is generic, just like The Time or Eagles are. In this case, Original 7ven is a better name for internet searches than The Time and so is Morris Day & The Time. Not a lot of Morris Day's out there. Type in Prince, and you get a lot of stuff like tennis equipment and Prince Charles. Fortunately The Beatles & OutKast son't have the regular spellings, so they're easier to find.

bboy87 said:

Don't sell him out. I'm not trying to see Prince candles

Didn't Prince put out a perfume or something? I know Mike did. Selling clothes worked out pretty well for Puff Daddy (Sean John) & Nelly (Apple Bottoms) and Dr. Dre's headphones Beats really became a big thing. Bobby Brown has a food seasoning line. Dolly Parton has an amusement park.

purple05 said:

I think the estate needs to reintroduce Prince to the public. They may even need to do a cirque type of show with his music.

The interest is there so it won't be difficult, it's just the execution that's important.

Re-releasing his music and video catalog and making it accessible is more crucial than anything IMO.

Something that MJ's estate did was around 2013, they put together a iTunes only compilation of the single remixes, megamixes, demos, and one-off releases into one set called the Ultimate Fans' Extras Collection. Prince's estate can do A LOT with what he has in his archives.

purple05 said:

I think the estate needs to reintroduce Prince to the public. They may even need to do a cirque type of show with his music.

I don't think Prince is mainstream enough for that. Also, the music of Mike, The Beatles, & Elvis Presley (who all had Cirque shows) is family friendly. Which would be a factor for this kind of show. Many people in the US would not take their young children to a program with Prince songs. Maybe a Jersey Boys style Broadway show is a place that is more suited for Prince's music

bboy87 said:

Re-releasing his music and video catalog and making it accessible is more crucial than anything IMO.

I read something a few years ago about Warner Brothers planning to release the "censored 11" cartoons on DVD/Blu Ray. They had been restored and were shown at a film festival. Later I heard it was cancelled and they were not planning to release any more cartoon shorts on home video at all because they don't think there's enough people who would buy it today to justify the expense. There's still many cartoons that haven't been restored. So if they don't think there's a market for classic cartoons, I don't see them putting out a music video compilation, especially since they've been posting them on Youtube.

MickyDolenz said:

bboy87 said:

Re-releasing his music and video catalog and making it accessible is more crucial than anything IMO.

I read something a few years ago about Warner Brothers planning to release the "censored 11" cartoons on DVD/Blu Ray. They had been restored and were shown at a film festival. Later I heard it was cancelled and they were not planning to release any more cartoon shorts on home video at all because they don't think there's enough people who would buy it today to justify the expense. There's still many cartoons that haven't been restored. So if they don't think there's a market for classic cartoons, I don't see them putting out a music video compilation, especially since they've been posting them on Youtube.

I wasn't talking about just the music videos. I actually meant his live performances and tv specials.

Prince and The Revolution: Parade (Detroit show)

Sign O' The Times: The Movie

Act 1/The Ryde Dyvine

Live! The Sacrifice of Victor

Lovesexy Live '88

Rock in Rio '90

Live in Tokyo '90

Rave Un2 The Year 2000

Live in Las Vegas

MickyDolenz said:

purple05 said:

Yea Broadway would be better

Dolly Parton is currently writing music for a show about her life. There's also been Broadway shows about Motown, John Lennon, Tupac, Louis Armstrong, & others

MickyDolenz said: