Nseabong Okong-Ekong
4 July 2009
(Page 3 of 3)
US channel ABC News devoted two hours to Michael in a special edition of its show '20/20' called 'The Life and Death of Michael Jackson' which was co-presented by journalist Martin Bashir - who famously produced the expose 'Living with Michael Jackson'. The network followed this with 'Farrah Fawcett: Her Life, Her Loves, Her Legacy'.
A woman claiming to be Michael Jackson's wife has demanded his body be returned to her. Nona Jackson, who claims to have had 15 children with the late pop star, has filed a 93 page claim to Michael's estate. She states in the claim: "All my husband's properties, monies and assets must be transferred to me immediately.
"My husband's body must be returned to the coroner's body or the mortuary immediately (sic)." In another part of her claim, Nona states: "Though he died to this earth, he lives with my father, Satan the Devil Khalid Lucifer."
A Los Angles judge has refused her request. Following Michael's death from a suspected cardiac arrest last week, Nona posted a message online, saying: "I have become a widow, I have paid ultimately for loving Michael Jackson but it is all I have to give him, the gift of eternity. He had to be loved even once in this lifetime and I have done that. I too can die in peace some day." I feel her evidence fails to establish any genetic relationship. Last year, Nona filed for a restraining order against Michael's ex-wife Debbie Rowe, saying she made it hard to concentrate when she attended award shows with the star. She also claimed to be the real mother of Jackson's three children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, seven.
Nona - full name Nona Paris Lola Ankhesenamun Jackson - has previously made claims about Jackson in court in 2006 and again in 2007, although none had sufficient evidence to back them up.
Randy Phillips, CEO of AEG said that when he saw and heard the response to the announcement of ten concerts, and saw the scramble to snap up the tickets, he rang Michael to tell him that they would have to increase the number of concerts to satisfy the demand. Very quickly the number increased to thirty and when a further twenty were added he again called Michael, who was "blown away", and cried with emotion at the news of the complete sell out of the tickets.
"If you look at Elvis, there is a ready-made museum in Graceland and I imagine the Jackson family are considering that option for Neverland - it's a perfect opportunity.
"The gate entrance from visitors would not be particularly important; the estate would make much more from what is sold to the fan once he or she is there. That would produce a stream of income that was not available in Jackson's lifetime."
Michael Jackson didn't come to be known as the "King of Pop" for nothing. He often hit the stage resplendent in gold and rhinestones, his lifestyle was notoriously lavish and he ruled a kingdom of adoring disciples: pop music fans, who bought more than 750 million records worldwide and flocked in their millions to sold-out concerts. Such was Jackson's influence, that even though he hadn't performed since 1997 or released a record since 2001, he was able to command $85 million in ticket sales for a sold-out tour he would never perform.
But despite the fact that Jackson's talent and shrewd business sense allowed him to rake in millions over his lifetime, when he died of a heart attack penultimate Thursday, he was reportedly more than $500 million in debt.
To those of more modest means, it seems impossible that someone who earned more than $500 million in royalties alone should run out of money. In fact, many people assume that the super-rich don't have to worry about money at all. Nine-figure fortunes are so far beyond most peoples' own incomes, that it's hard for them to even imagine the bottom of such a large pot of gold.
Michael Jackson's king-sized financial problems have dethroned this myth. So how does a mega-millionaire rack up such massive debt? It occurs for the same reason as it does for those with more average earnings: expenses exceed income.
Although hundreds of millions of dollars may seem like bottomless wealth, poor money management can lead to the depletion of even the most stately sums. This is because people - whether famous or not - generally fall victim to what's known as the lifestyle creep; their desires rise right along with their incomes. So, their lifestyles rise to meet - or in Jackson's case, surpass - their incomes.
According to a forensic accountant who testified in Jackson's 2005 trial for molestation charges, Jackson was suffering an "ongoing cash crisis", and was spending $20 million to $30 million more than the estimated $19 million he earned through royalties each year. While Jackson's expenses may have been extravagant, his behavior is shockingly average: the U.S. Commerce Department reported in 2007 that Americans, on average, were spending more than they had earned. Although the recent credit crisis has recently reversed this trend somewhat, it is clear that in good times, people tend to jump on the hedonic treadmill and keep on running.
Take Michael Jackson's 2,600 acre Neverland Ranch estate. The property was Jackson's personal kingdom, boasting a fairground, a 50-seat cinema, a zoo and an assessed value of more than $17 million in 2006. It sounds extravagant, but at least in terms of paying the mortgage, it's actually to scale with a $19 million income.
But Jackson was also described as collector and shopper, who reportedly spent $4 million on a single Las Vegas shopping spree in 2003. Ten-foot glass urns may not be on everyone's shopping list, but for the super-rich, the scale of expenses expands along with income, and there is no shortage of extravagantly expensive luxury items to cater to people with ultra-thick pocketbooks and an exclusive limit-free credit card.
The truth is, money is a finite resource. By definition, this means that no matter how much you have, it can never be unlimited. And as long as there are millionaires, there will be no shortage of ever-grander (and ever more expensive) luxury products. Good money management applies to all income brackets. Michael Jackson carried an air of aristocracy even among the most elite celebrities, but although he lived like a king, he died in debt.
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