Michael Jackson earned enormous sums of money in his live and lived the life of a King.  But his balance sheet showed otherwise.  Despite selling over 61 million records throughout his career, he died yesterday swimming in debt.  From the Associated Press:

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.


Back in 2005, Bank of America must have realized early that Jackson’s financial mess would be hard to overcome, and sold off his debt to Fortress Investments, a private hedge fund.

Jackson was not the only high income celebrity who struggled financially.  Money Magazine published an article about the Debt disasters of the rich and famous.  Here are a few points from that article below.

  • Donald Trump struggled a decade ago with $900 million in personal liabilities.
  • The Jackson parents went bankrupt with $45 million in debt.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart fell heavily into debt and was buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave.
  • Burt Reynolds declared bankruptcy in 1996, citing more than $8 million in debts.  He did however get to keep his $2.5 million estate Florida.
  • Corey Haim, the star of 1987 film “The Lost Boys,” filed for bankruptcy in 1997.
  • In 1999, the BBC reported that Elton John asked a merchant bank to help him borrow $40 million to pay off his debts. A year later he admitted running up debts more than $2 million a month.

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