Was Michael Jackson deep in debt?

There were some speculations talking about Michael Jackson being close to bankruptcy, mostly because of his huge loan and mortgage debt. Earlier this year, the ownership of Jackson’s famous Neverland Ranch was taken away from Michael and transferred to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC (In fact, Michael is also a shareholder of that company, so it is not like he has lost the property completely). Michael was not really living in the Neverland since 2004. After the famous lawsuits Michael has been spending most of his time outside of United States. However, during the last year before his death Michael was living in California, leasing beautiful French Chateau style mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles. It has been reported that his housing bill is a whopping $100,000 a month. This is not what many people call a bankruptcy.

Michael's properties and music companies are valued to hundreds of millions of dollars. However, he has some huge loan and mortgage debts against his properties, so it is really hard to tell whether he was broke or still wealthy and what was his final net worth. So far, that is unclear even to Michael's closest advisors. They say it could take years to sort through the financial and legal mess left after his death, with a predicted price tag for legal fees alone in the double digit millions.

It is also unclear how much will be left for his heirs. The estimate is that Michael Jackson earned about $700 million as a performer and songwriter from the 1980s on, much of it already spent. His debts have been estimated at form $400 million to $500 million or more.

It has also emerged that Jackson was worth a net 236 million dollars (£143 million) in March 2007. Financial documents showed the singer held 567.6 million dollars (£345 million) in assets and 331 million (£201 million) in debt at that time (March 2007).

The question of Michael Jackson's final net worth remains widely open.