Been out of town a couple of days now and like everyone else been engrossed in the Michael Jackson story which threatens to get juicier with each passing day. Already we know that the King was bald, weighed a measly 51kg, was willing to do practically anything to get some sleep, had a face full of scars etc etc. But more astonishing for me is the fact that the King of Pop actually was technically bankrupt due to the amount of debt he was carrying at the time of his death.
According to Fox News, the guy had amassed debts of upto $400million despite earning millions of dollars in the course of his career.
Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the “King of Pop” died Thursday at age 50 reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt, on the cusp of a final comeback after well over a decade of scandal.
When he ran into further financial problems, he agreed to a deal with Sony in 1995 to merge ATV with Sony’s library of songs and sold Sony music publishing rights for $95 million. Then in 2001, he used his half of the ATV assets as collateral to secure $200 million in loans from Bank of America. As his financial problems continued, Jackson began to borrow large sums of money, according to a 2002 lawsuit by Union Finance & Investment Corp. that sought $12 million in unpaid fees and expenses. One forensic accountant testified that the singer had an “ongoing cash crisis” and was spending $20 million to $30 million more per year than he earned. In March of last year, the singer faced foreclosure on Neverland. He also repeatedly failed to make mortgage payments on a house in Los Angeles that had been used for years by his family.
It sounds incredible that someone earning that kind of money can actually find himself in debt, Ksh. 3.2billion for that matter. But it merely reinforces the often repeated argument that it is really what you keep that matters and not what you earn. Mortgage payments? The guy had mortgage payments?
My Road To Wealth 
Well, he spent $300,000 for a “motivational guru” so its no surprise he wound up broke. Thats the kind of money my family and I could live off for ever