Patterico's Pontifications

6/27/2009

The Michael Jackson Estate

Filed under: General — DRJ @ 3:47 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The word of the day is Massive: The Jackson estate faces massive legal issues including an unknown cause of death, questions about the physician who was apparently present at Jackson’s death, child custody matters, multiple kinds and numbers of assets, and reports of massive debt.

Los Angeles’ police also anticipate a massive turnout for Jackson’s memorial service. The fan response to Jackson’s death has been intense so it’s not hard to imagine the significant security issues a public memorial service would present.

It occurs to me, can Los Angeles and/or California really afford this?

— DRJ

24 Responses to “The Michael Jackson Estate”

  1. Massive debt goes away in a few years so long as Creditors are calm.

    Now that the out-of-control spending stops the royalties his estate generates will pay for itself.

    I had heard he generates over $50MM in income yearly for himself from his past work. With his death, it will even go up.

    HeavenSent (1e97ff)

  2. the city should charge admission to get into the area….

    problem solved.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  3. No problem. California can’t afford anything anyway.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  4. Plus they have to deal with Jetstream Jesse Jackson sticking his mug in the whole deal:

    “Michael Jackson’s family wants an independent autopsy to determine the cause of the King of Pop’s death, The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday.

    The family told Jesse Jackson about its wishes while he spent time with them during the past two days, the reverend said in an interview with The Associated Press.”

    daleyrocks (718861)

  5. No problem. California can’t afford anything anyway.

    Uh, I beg to differ: obviously we can afford anything…and everything. That’s why we’re in the horrible mess we’re in.

    daley, it’s so funny how Al Sharpton and now Jesse Jackson have become a part of this…wherever there’s a camera…

    Dana (8d88ef)

  6. Jennifer Rubin over at the Contentions blog makes a good point about how appropriately silent the Obama White House has been over MJ’s passing. Contrast that with the Sharpton-Jackson clown car. Any way we can get Jeremiah Wright to come out for the funeral?

    JVW (a8c610)

  7. The longer they can keep this on the front page, the easier it is to conceal the “Great Cap and Trade Caper” from the general public. Never let a crisis go to waste.

    Gazzer (f027c2)

  8. The Happy Hour show on Fox Biz Net had an excellent discussion of how quickly the debt will be retired, and the myriad cash veins the estate can open. The experts cited Elvis Presley and that in the first year following his alleged death, Elvis’ took in more revenue than he had in the ten previous years combined.

    One delicious irony to me is that with MJ having died a debtor, California and the U.S. IRS won’t see a dime in estate tax. The family (presumably) can look forward to a massive income for many years to come.

    Ed from SFV (dde255)

  9. “daley, it’s so funny how Al Sharpton and now Jesse Jackson have become a part of this…wherever there’s a camera…”

    Dana – I’m not sure “funny” is the right word. I wonder who they plan on shaking down regarding Michael’s death.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  10. Ed from SFV,

    There could be significant estate and inheritance taxes. I’m not an estate tax or California tax lawyer but I assume the Estate’s assets will be valued and taxed at their present value. The reports suggest most of his assets are encumbered by debt but, depending on how it’s valued, the music library may be worth more than the debt. For instance, the calculation of its taxable value may include the value of estimated royalties.

    Does anyone know how this works?

    DRJ (cdbef5)

  11. I wonder who they plan on shaking down regarding Michael’s death.

    No doubt they are right now getting the family to hire them as shake down advisers so their first target is the estate. They will surely find other targets from there. Never in the history of the world have we seen two people with such a natural gift at squeezing money from people. Every criminal sitting in jail kicks themselves for not stealing money the way Sharpton and Jackson have.

    MU789 (dc2f66)

  12. daley, that would be funny as in: strangely or suspiciously odd; curious, tricky or deceitful.

    Definitely not the haha variety.

    Dana (8d88ef)

  13. Dana – I knew you did not mean funny “ha ha”.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  14. oh. Thank you for the delicious irony part, SFV person. I love that. oh. I think the music library is encumbered as well, DRJ in that he already borrowed against anticipated royalties.

    I didn’t know there was a state estate tax. But from a dead pop icon perspective this is pretty important I would think.

    On November 11, 2008 Jackson transferred the [Neverland Ranch] title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, and neighbors reported immediate activity on the property including removal of the amusement rides. Jackson still owned an unknown stake in the property, since Sycamore Valley Ranch was a joint venture between Jackson (represented by attorney L. Londell McMillan) and an affiliate of Colony Capital LLC (an investment company run by billionaire Thomas Barrack, Jr). The Santa Barbara County Assessor’s Office stated Jackson sold an unknown proportion of his property rights for $35 million. The singer said he no longer considered the ranch a home, feeling the 70 police officers had “violated” it in their searches following allegations of sexual misconduct.

    happyfeet (e8d590)

  15. Contrast that with the Sharpton-Jackson clown car. Any way we can get Jeremiah Wright to come out for the funeral?

    I’m sure they’re all itching to declare Michael Jackson’s death was due to a lack of enough publicly funded healthcare, weak affirmative-action policies, racism in law-enforcement agencies, reduced funding for public schools and daycare centers, ineffective voting-rights laws, too much global warming, or God knows what else.

    Mark (411533)

  16. DRJ – most all, if not all, of MJ’s assets are encumbered with liens or claims that make him a net debtor, if the experts I’ve seen are correct.

    If the estate can go into bankruptcy, there would be a ton of willing lenders who would pay the claims (act as debtors-in-possession) and allow the estate to, for example, turn Neverland into the west coast Graceland. The music catalogue will bring millions each year. Again, if the experts were correct, and they were excited as hell about the prospects of MJ’s holdings accelerating in value as Elvis’ did, there can’t be any taxes levied against the estate now, and the family can look forward to a cash cow for life.

    Ed from SFV (dde255)

  17. “anticipate a massive turnout for Jackson’s memorial service” I wonder how many pathologists flew in for his autopsies. SRO.

    gp (a3af9f)

  18. It occurs to me, can Los Angeles and/or California really afford this? LA sure cant and California can’t either. And dont think that hasnt been raised already. The Lakers were asked by the mayor to pay for half of their million dollar parade.

    This is a gift from the media gods to cable television. Every lawyer, doctor, coroner and maid who has had the remotest contact with MJ or wants to stake a claim to some fame will be on the air all summer, a notoriously slow news period. It’ll be OJ redux.

    And as a point of reference, ABC News reported Saturday evening that when Elvis Presley died, he was worth $5 million. Now his estate makes $50 million a year. Elvis is worth more dead than alive.

    If you’ve got any books you’ve been meaning to read, this is the summer to do it.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  19. I’m sensing a vibe here. It feels like Patterico Pontifications has slowly moved past their time of grief.

    Can we do MJ jokes now?

    Personally I’ve been to a few funerals. We never needed security. MJ was a card carrying Muslim.
    Jesse Jackson uses some sort of Muslim Brotherhood for his personal protection.
    If it’s absolutely necessary, both that Jesse has to be at this funeral, and this funeral needs to have a security arrangement, why not make Jesse useful for once.
    Have him handle security as the price of his photo op.

    papertiger (b40a74)

  20. Actually, MJ claimed he was a Jehovah’s Witness. Yeah, I know, that fits the weirdness. But he was not Muslim.

    Dave N (c615e4)

  21. It occurs to me, can Los Angeles and/or California really afford this?

    Just read something this morning which said the poison control center for Ca may be closed due to budget.

    voiceofreason2 (0d75a7)

  22. “Actually, MJ claimed he was a Jehovah’s Witness. Yeah, I know, that fits the weirdness. But he was not Muslim.”

    Dave N. – Apparently the latest nanny for the kids who in recent years gained a lot of influence over Michael was close to the NOI and brought them into his circle. British reporters who were close to him are reporting he converted.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  23. After all the surreal stuff MJ did in the last 25 years, from mutilating his body, bleaching his skin, spending all his time with children, hocking his Beatles library not once but twice, his bizarre Super Bowl Jesus performance and the absolutely stunning-in-its-awfulness Jackson Family Honors, I have a feeling none of this will compare to the site of his family and others picking over the bones.

    harkin (3769c8)

  24. It occurs to me, can Los Angeles and/or California really afford this?

    With a looming multi-billion dollar budget deficit, there’s a lot of things that CA can’t afford.

    But they’ll still go ahead and spend the money anyway….

    Blacque Jacques Shellacque (1641e7)


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