# Michael Jackson-$40 million in Debt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064 "2009-06-26T13:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/61 "2009-06-27T05:52:32Z")
When I posted in the “Favorite MJ Song” thread that it’s my favorite tune of his, it occurred to me that if you think of the ‘she’ in _She’s Out Of My Life_ as ‘Jacko’s personal fortune’ then the lyrics are rather prophetic. Makes for a silly 20-second diversion anyway. Here’s a bit of the lyrics: She’s out of my life She’s out of my life And I don’t know whether to laugh or cry I don’t know whether to live or die And it cuts like a knife She’s out of my life It’s out of my hands It’s out of my hands To think for two years she was here And I took her for granted I was so cavalier Now the way that it stands She’s out of my hands ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/62 "2009-06-27T08:24:57Z")
> [@](#): > > If the press can be believed, the family is a bunch of mooches. Michael was giving them a lot. Now I don’t know if I really believe this as no one ever seems to say Janet Jackson is handing over her piles of cash. So either Janet can handle her family or the family isn’t as bad as people say. I read an article earlier this year that did a “where are they now?” of the Jackson family and discussed their finances. They said that Janet is the only member of the family who has a big income and she is basically supported the rest fo the family. Obviously this was when Michael was still alive so it lends credence to reports he was in debt when he died. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/63 "2009-06-27T13:23:34Z")
they have stated that michael had not had contact with some of his siblings for years because they always had their hand out. when the jacksons hit the music scene, the osmonds were hitting the scene as well. it is interesting to look at both family acts and how they dealt with fame, fortune, and each other. the jacksons had a wider following, and micheal was light years ahead of donny. the osmonds didn’t have the physical abuse that the jacksons did. both had fathers that were in control of the act and money, both have money problems due to that. interesting. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/64 "2009-06-27T13:25:39Z")
[Reuters story](http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/reuters/2009/06/27/hello-goodbye-jacksons-beatles-rights-at-risk) about trying to figure out Jackson’s assets- including his share in the Beatles catalog. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/65 "2009-06-27T16:26:54Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > (If perfectly square, 3,000 acres would be a bit more than half a mile on each of the 4 sides.) Hmm. Am I missing something? I think 640 acres is a square mile. Doesn’t that mean he’d have a 2.4-miles-on-each-side, or thereabouts, square? ETA maybe 2.16? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/66 "2009-06-27T16:33:27Z")
I also come up with 2.16. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/67 "2009-06-27T18:04:12Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Dolly Parton wrote _I Will Always Love You_ specifically for Elvis. He heard it and absolutely loved it and wanted to record it but Tom Parker, who took care of ALL his business decisions, insisted that Dolly give him half the publishing rights of the song- his standard contract. > > But Dolly knew that _I Will Always Love You_ was going to be a monster, plus she wanted to record it herself at some point (she was in legal battles to free herself from Porter Wagoner [who she wrote the song _about_] at the time and couldn’t without him possibly claiming rights to her own recordings) and she couldn’t stand the thoughts of Elvis getting half the publishing money if she herself were to have a hit with the song later. She made counter offers, including him half the publishing royalties for _his version_ of the song- but wouldn’t give up half the rights to it into perpetuity. > > So short story wrong, Elvis never recorded the song. Dolly’s legal battles with Wagoner ended and she recorded the song herself and, of course, huge hit. She recorded two later versions of it and it appeared on the bestselling _Best Little Whorehouse_ soundtrack- generated millions each time. She said she still cried when she thought about how great Elvis would have been with it, but not as much when the royalty checks kept coming in each time (instead of half of said royalty checks). Then when Whitney Houston sang it and it was a monster and brought Dolly far more money than her own versions had she said “That’s when I officially stopped cryin’”, because had she signed the deal then a quarter of the publishing royalties from Whitney’s version would have gone to Lisa Marie Presley as the heir of a man who had nothing to do with writing the song 20+ years before and another quarter to Tom Parker, a man who had nothing to do with anything remotely connected to songwriting. Not signing that contract cost her millions in the '70s perhaps (assuming Elvis would have had a big hit) but it saved her many more millions of dollars over the next three decades. Dolly is a badass. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/68 "2009-06-27T19:28:48Z")
So I’m wondering now if they’re going to go ahead and auction all this stuff that’s in those catalogs. Seems to me they would get better asking prices after MJ’s death. What else would they do with all that…stuff. I remember in that Bashir documentary whatever hotel suite MJ was staying at he had several of those life sized statues, like the old lady with a robe on and I think the butler, too. He said something like it makes him feel at home to have those statues around to talk to. Yeah. Also about the rented house where he was living…I’m pretty sure I read that it was being paid for by his upcoming tour backers. Wonder if those people will be able to recoup any losses from the tour that never happened. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/69 "2009-06-27T19:48:37Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Dolly is a badass. I don’t like to +1, but I’ve definitely got to +1 that. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/70 "2009-06-27T19:53:37Z")
> [@HelloKitty](#): > > snip > > Also about the rented house where he was living…I’m pretty sure I read that it was being paid for by his upcoming tour backers. Wonder if those people will be able to recoup any losses from the tour that never happened. Insurance, and I’ll bet you they had lots of it. Not only that, he just might be worth more dead to them. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/71 "2009-06-27T20:18:14Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Hmm. Am I missing something? I think 640 acres is a square mile. Doesn’t that mean he’d have a 2.4-miles-on-each-side, or thereabouts, square? > > ETA maybe 2.16? My understanding- 640 acres is a square mile, meaning a square that is .25 mile on each side. 1 mile on each side would be 1 Mile Square. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/72 "2009-06-27T20:39:37Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > My understanding- 640 acres is a square mile, meaning a square that is .25 mile on each side. 1 mile on each side would be 1 Mile Square. There’s no difference. A Section (640 acres) is one mile by one mile – areas are always calculated multiplicatively by multiplying length by width. > [@](#): > > Each section of a township is numbered as in this example and each section is one mile on each side - one mile square. [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilmaga/landmaps/range\_map.html](http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilmaga/landmaps/range_map.html) ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064/73 "2009-06-27T22:02:10Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I don’t like to +1, but I’ve definitely got to +1 that. dolly is a fantastic business person as well as a talented songwriter. not a common combination. perhaps she would be a good guardian for his children. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-40-million-in-debt/501064.md?page=3)