I read that when Michael Jackson died, he was $500 million in debt. How does someone get into that kind of debt?

Question

I read that when Michael Jackson died, he was $500 million in debt. How does someone get into that kind of debt?

In: Economics

Answer 1

Think about earning potential..

If Michael Jackson could have lived to, let’s say 70-80, he could be living a similar life to other musical stars like Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Celine Dion, etc. they still sell out arenas even in the ends of their careers.

Michael Jackson was able to take out loans with the expectation of earning enough to pay off the debt because he was one of the largest acts in the world. Obviously tragedy struck with his death, and the debt had to be recouped by what was left of his estate and royalty earnings, which probably wasn’t enough though