He made 175 million on Thriller. His lawyer John Branca told him to buy the Sony ATV Beatles catalog for 48 million and it generated 11–18 million a year income but his living expenses were twice that much. He bought Neverland for 19.5 million, He put 20 million in it building the amusement park,zoo,movie theater. It cost 24 million a year to maintain. It had a salaried full time staff , up to 100 people. He had other homes. He would rent an entire floor of hotel suites for 9,000.00 per suite per night. Michael actually held the record for highest rent paid in NYC for many years after he rented an upper east side townhouse for 75 thousand dollars a month while working on Off the Wall .Michael was a profligate spender. example: In the late eighties he bought 3 bottles of a perfume called viv sulman five for $85,000.00 PER BOTTLE.
He had his favorite limo interior clad with 24k gold and cut crystal.
Court documents filed in LA superior court Sept 1999 for his divorce from Debbie Rowe show-his cost of living at the time averaged a whooping $2,339,300 PER MONTH ( yes you read that right ,two million three hundred thirty nine thousand and 300 dollars a month)
The breakdown follows:
--he had 75 cars registered to him, many being rolls Royce, Rolls Royce limos, Merces Benz
$95,700.00 a month on gardening (Neverland)
security, 52,900.00 a month
Upkeep on zoo and Amusement park, $66,200.00 per month
Housekeeping and PR expenses $60,000,00 per month
Legal fees $178,100.00 month
$120,000.00 personal and property insurance per month
$25,600.00 medical needs
$42,000.00 gifts
$85,500.00 transportation ( private planes, limos for self and entourage)
$475,300 MJJ productions, Optimum productions)
His PERSONAL expenses were an astounding $1,420,600.00 a MONTH . His household expenses were $358,600.00 a month. That meant it cost $2,339,300.00 A MONTH to live Michael Jackson's life, WHICH WOULD PUT EVEN A BILLIONARE IN DEBT.
Michael had paid 63 million to make the short film Ghosts. It made no profit.
Michael liked to shop..He bought a $275,000.00 custom designed red velvet couch AND 759,000.00 dining chair set among the other 3 million dollars in antiques for his home in 1997,which is representative of his level of spending.
He paid Didneyland Paris 3 million dollars per day to close down so he could have it to himself.
You get the idea right?
Michael's earning potential dwindled after the 1993 child molestation allegation. Product endorsements dissapeared. His clothing line was cancelled after Bad.Record sales never did as well as Thriller or even Bad . He had not been on tour since 1997. His tours were enormous productions for the time with much of the $ for special effects the producers could not afford but Michael wanted coming out of his pocket. Millions. Sales of INVINCIBLE were "disappointing" in 2000 with only 10 million albums sold.
Michael lived in an insane amount of luxury even for a multimillionaire. He had no concept of money.
As early as 1996 Michael borrowed 500 million against the Beatles catalogue ,also sold a piece to Sony, to fund his lifestyle and pay debts. Its a myth that the Chandler settlement cost him 23 million. His insurance company, Lloyds of London , paid the settlement.
He borrowed against Neverland.
After a second child molestation charge in 2003, and a 17 million dollar trial he stopped paying expenses including mortgage on Neverland and in 2005 abandoned it, millions of dollars in contents, the zoo animals, the amusement park. His income that year according to Forbes magazine was 48 million.
Neverland went into forclosure but was saved by an investment bank willing to take over the property and payments while allowing Michael to keep 25% ownership. Lawsuits began from unpaid employees,managers, business interests,promoters, recird companies, private claims . He still owned the mansion compound in Encino,CA his mother now lived in and the mortgage went into arrears.
He bought Elizabeth Taylor a two million $ vacheron watch, along with millions more in Jewelry during their friendship.
The spending and shopping continued although income , except for the Beatles cataloge had ALMOST dried up. HE HAD ADDITIONAL INCOME of ??? millions from albums released with remix old material.
But yet….
He borrowed against the Beatles catalog again and sold more bits to Sony. Most people would have seen the writing on the wall and dialed it back to live on the 11–30 million a year income from the Beatles catalogue and other investments but Jackson thought he could somehow rebound. His yearly expenses remained double or triple the income.
He moved to Bahrain in 2005 ,bought a 1.2 million dollar mansion,lived in it less than 10 months, abandoned it. He never really worked again but the spending,shopping ,luxury continued and even escalated.
When he Negotiated with AEG live to do a series of 10 and then 50 concerts, many people believe AEG twisted his arm. Michael complained to everyone that AEG was unreasonable and killing him ,but really, Michael was desperate for the money that 50 shows and a projected world tour , product endorsements,merchandise, clothing line franchise and concerts movie would generate . Initial Ticket sales totaled 85 million. He was an estimated 500 million dollars in debt. He had been asked to leave at least 4 posh luxury hotels that year when his credit cards were declined (according to body guards)
By then Michael had well known drug problems, was mentally and physically unstable and had not been onstage in almost in 10 years. It was a risk for all concerned.
At the time of his death Michael was paying, with money advanced to him by AEG , Dr Conrad Murray, a salary of $150,000.00 a month and $100,000.00 a month rent on his Carolwood drive mansion, while preparing to move to a 40 room rented English castle outside London, complete with lake,river,horses, large full time staff . It has been estimated by those who knew him that this trend of living a life exceeding income, even if this income was 50 million dollars a year, would have continued,had he lived.
RIP Michael. We miss you