Michael Jackson the King of Pop is no exception to debts. It looks weird and unbelievable for such a world wide known celebrity succumb to bite of debts. This story should be an eye opener to people that it doesn't matter how much money you make it only matters how best you handle it. MK I guess is lacking better financial education. Being celebrity doesn't make sole proprietor to ever lasting happiness, peace and best things in life. It's just an illusion. Their lives are filled with issues. It's just matter of size and relativity compared to common man.
Despite receiving millions of dollars annually from his song catalogs, Michael Jackson year after year spent more than he earned, including $30 million in annual debt payments, a forensic accountant testified Monday.William R. Ackerman, testifying as a defense witness on behalf of AEG Live in the wrongful-death trial, offered a detailed look at the singer's finances, telling jurors that Jackson spent money on donations to charity, gifts, travel, art and furniture.
"He spent a lot of money on jewelry," Ackerman said with a chuckle.
Neverland Ranch -- which Ackerman called "a mini-theme park," with its maintenance staff, zoo and train that traveled around the property -- was also a huge drain on his income, the certified public accountant testified. Still, he said, “consistently, his largest expenditure was interest expense. He spent a ton of money on interest.”
Jackson's biggest expense was $30 million in annual payments on his debt when he died in 2009.
Interest on the loans grew over the years, ranging from a little less than 7% to 16.8% annually, Ackerman said in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
As early as 1993, Jackson owed $30 million, a figure that grew to $140 million by 1998. From June 2001 through June 2009, Jackson's debt increased by about $170 million. When he died, Jackson owed $400 million to $500 million, Ackerman testified.
Ackerman said Jackson received no loans after 2007, and at the time of his death, he was three to four months behind on payments for the San Fernando Valley home where his mother lived.
