Michael Jackson is reported to have been grappling with staggering debt just days before his death in Los Angeles, with court documents revealing his dire situation.
The night before his death, Jackson had been enduring six-hour dress rehearsals at the Staples Centre in preparation for his highly anticipated This Is It residency at the O2 Arena in London.
His highly anticipated return was expected to come with new songs for the shows which were scheduled to run from July 2009 to March 2010.
Despite the excitement of his return, Jackson's financial situation was in a bad place with debts mounting and accruing at a rate of $30million annually.
Certified public accountant William R. Ackerman provided a detailed account of Jackson’s finances and used his stake in valuable song catalogues, which included the Beatles hits, as collateral for approximately $270million in loans from Bank of America.
The loans were later sold to Fortress Investment Group in 2005, a company specializing in distressed debt, with Randy Phillips, former CEO of AEG Live, giving an insight into how Jackson was determined to change his financial situation.
Michael was preparing for his London residency when he died
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He shared with Rolling Stone in 2009: "He wanted people to see his work and not just talk about his lifestyle. Michael was a very smart marketing person. People say he was feeble and manipulated, but he was powerful and a manipulator. He was ready to clean up his finances and settle down to earn money again."
Following the Thriller singer's death, the financial burden of the cancelled tour fell on his estate, which owed approximately $40million to concert promoter AEG.
The estate, which was managed by attorney John Branca and A&R executive John McClain, faced significant challenges which included over half a dozen lawsuits and numerous creditors' claims.
"The Executors were able to renegotiate and restructure financing arrangements at substantially reduced interest rates," the petition reads.
The star died if a suspected heart attach
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However, this year, Jackson's youngest son Blanket "Bigi" Jackson – real name Prince Michael Jackson II – went up against his grandmother Katherine Jackson to protect his father’s legacy and estate.
The 22-year-old was reported to have filed legal papers to stop his grandmother from using his father’s estate funds to fund an appeal of a previous ruling.
Before their legal battle, reports claimed that Jackson and his grandmother were “recently working together to stop the executors of [Michael] Jackson’s estate from going through with a huge business transaction that they were very much so against.”
Documents do not say what the transaction was, but it seems it may be related to the deal the estate made with Sony to sell half of the popstars music catalogue for $600million (£473million).
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Blanket recently fought his grandmother for the sake of his fathers legacy
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The debt of Jackson will not be included in the upcoming biopic which has received a lot of backlash and was accused of "whitewashing" as the movie "rewrites" assault allegations.
HBO’s Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed claimed that he had seen a draft of the script last year and told The Times London: "It’s an out-and-out attempt to #completely rewrite the allegations and dismiss them out of hand, and contains complete lies.
"You never see him alone with any boys, when it is a matter of fact that he shared his bed with small children for many years.
"Jackson is only ever seen caring for children with childhood cancer, or dancing with a little girl in a wheelchair, or tucking up multiple little boys, mostly his nephews, at sleepovers.
"It feels like the creators of the movie have been stuck in a room with John Branca and just told what to write."
