Michael Jackson Memory Dance

Jackson has twice been named as the "#1 Entertainer of the Year" on the Forbes list based on his earnings. However, Jackson has not appeared on the Forbes 400. When Forbes editor Peter Newcomb was asked in 2003 to explain Jackson’s absence from their lists he replied “MJ owes $250 to $300 million to a consortium of banks”. Forbes never included Jackson in the list as they only calculate income from musical related moneys and companies publicly recognized for employers in the case of artists. Forbes considered Jackson as an artist and not as a businessman, all the income that is published by Forbes on Michael Jackson are about music rather than contracts, businesses (except Sony/ATV Music Publishing preferentially Forbes value is $5 billion, of which $1.3 billion came from Jackson's own sales as an artist). Jackson's assets are worth around $4 to $6 billion relating to his businesses such as Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Jackson International LLC, The Michael Jackson Company LLC, Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, MJJ Music while naming only a few. Jackson has over $200 million related to properties in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, London and other countries. It is yet unknown of the stake Jackson owns of Neverland Valley Ranch after the year 2008, when it became Sycamore Company LLC (a joint venture between Colony Capital LLC and The Michael Jackson Company). His Neverland Valley Ranch has been valued at $100 to $150 million.
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.