Michael Jackson Making Money After Death

Michael Jackson's estate has earned $250 million dollars in the year since his death, proving the "King of Pop" is still reigning at the top of the charts.

The estate's co-executors, John Branca and John McClain, say the estate has made a dramatic turn-around since Jackson died on June 25, 2009 when the estate was more than $500 million in debt.

They have been able to pay off $70 million in debt, including the $5 million mortgage on the Jackson family compound in Encino.by ktla news

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The interest payments on the remaining debt are now covered by a steady flow of cash.

Experts say the money making deals made after Jackson's death will likely be bigger than the money that could have been made by the comeback concerts he had planned.


The deals include:

-- The sale of unreleased Jackson recordings with Sony Music which has guaranteed $200 million over seven years. It has already brought $125 million to the estate.

-- The film "This Is It," based on his final concert rehearsal footage, grossed $252 million worldwide. Sony Pictures paid the estate $60 million in advance, with an undisclosed amount more to come from DVD sales.

-- Licensing deals on merchandise sold by Universal Music Group's Bravado unit and a new dance game by Ubisoft Entertainment brought in $26 million in advances. More is possible if unit sales are high.

-- The Mijac Music catalog of copyrights, on songs that Jackson wrote, generated $25 million in the past year, thanks to heavy airplay on radio stations and song and album sales.

-- Music publisher Sony/ATV, the copyright holder of the Beatles' and other artists' songs, posted double-digit percentage revenue gains in the year through March. That netted Jackson's estate, which owns a 50 percent stake, $11 million.

-- Other income, including from a rerelease of Jackson's autobiography, "Moon Walk," and sales of commemorative tickets to his canceled concerts, brought in another $25 million.

The tally does not include a deal with Cirque du Soleil for shows inspired by Jackson's music, in which the estate will share half the costs and profits when the performances begin in late 2011. Nor does it account for a deal in the works to nearly double the estate's income from Sony/ATV. That cash goes to pay down most of Jackson's remaining debt.

Co-executor Branca, Jackson's longtime lawyer and business manager, told the Associated Press "We're doing the things that Michael would have wanted."

Overdue bills are being paid, including $341,452 in legal fees owed to Thomas Mesereau, the attorney who successfully defended Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial.

Earnings could flow into Jackson's estate for decades.

Sony Music says more than 31 million Jackson albums have sold worldwide since he died. With 8.3 million albums sold in the U.S., Michael Jackson was the top-selling artist in 2009.

In 2010, Jackson songs have been played on American radio stations 140,000 times, about 10 times the pace before he died, according to Nielsen.

Nearly a million Jackson albums have sold this year and a new album of unreleased material is set to hit stores in November, roughly in tandem with a new video game in which fans can mimic his signature moves.