Michael Jackson Memory Dance

In the last 25 years of Jackson's lifetime, it is estimated he made more than $300 million from his own music royalties and another $400 million from concerts. In the 1980s, when Jackson became the biggest musical act in the world with Thriller alone making him $125 million. In 2002, Jackson stated he had made Sony several billion dollars throughout his career. Some analysts have speculated that his music catalog holdings could be worth billions of dollars. This speculation however is contradicted by financial documents obtained by the Associated Press, which showed that as of March 31, 2007, Jackson's 50 percent stake in the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog (his most prized asset) was worth $390.6 million and Michael Jackson's net worth was $236 million. This value for Jackson's Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog is highly false. The catalog owns and controls many different record companies and has rights to more than 500,000 songs, including songs by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Akon, Shakira, Bjork, Boyz II Men and Lady Gaga, among hundreds of others. The company is one of the largest music publishers in the world and is believed to generate up to $2.5 billion a year; The Beatles' hits alone bring in $30 million to $45 million a year. Jackson's other publishing firm, Mijac, which publishes songs written by Jackson himself and which used to be administered by competitor Warner/Chappell Music, is valued to be worth at least $450 million. Since 2011 Mijac is administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing. It is reported that if Sony/ATV Music Publishing, acquires EMI Music Publishing its value would increase to $11 billion. Billboard has estimated that Jackson has generated at least $1 billion in revenue in the year following his death.
In 2012 it was revealed that the net worth of Michael Jackson at the time of his death was $7.5 billion dollars. Currently the net worth of Jackson (2012) is $11.5 billion. The liquid cash that Jackson had before he died was around $1.3 billion. This data was released by Jackson's attorney Thomas Mesereau, thus making Jackson the richest artist in history and one of the wealthiest businessmen in the entertainment industry.