How much was Michael Jackson worth?
| Net Worth: | -$500 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | Aug 29, 1958 (aged 50) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.75 m) |
About Michael Jackson
Was he black? Was he white? Was he male? Was he female? These are not common questions to consider about anyone. But then again when it comes to Michael Jackson there was not much that was common at all. A genius? Forget about it, the best. But surely troubled especially by the end of his life he appeared to be deeply troubled and perhaps that was the reason for his untimely death. With his trademark moves and his off the cuff vocal hiccups that just turned us all wild male or female, black, white or green. Michael definitely earned his name as the “King of Pop” and in my mind at least, counting out a global cataclysm, will be listened to for centuries to come.
There was a trust that was setup by Michael Jackson and amended many times over the years while he was still alive. In the end, if my version of clauses are accurate: 20% of all proceeds from the estate are to go to charity, the remainder is to be split between a trust for Katherine Jackson and a trust for Michael’s children, Prince Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II and Paris Jackson.
In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine estimated that MJ’s trust was worth $1 billion. Since then it has no doubt grown. In 2018, Michael Jackson’s estate earned an estimated $400 million.
During his life. Michael Jackson earned an estimated $2.307 billion dollars adjusted for inflation in 2022. As the highest earning dead celebrity Jackson has earned an estimated $2.578 billion, since 2009.
“I was a veteran, before I was a teenager.” Michael Jackson
Indiana
Growing up in a two-room house in a working-class neighborhood of Gary, Indiana with his parents Joseph Walter (“Joe”) and Katherine Scruse-Jackson, and eight siblings. Michael Jackson likely had an eye opening experience from day one. At just age 5 Michael along with his older brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon formed a family band, The Jackson 5.
Some say because of his own music career, or lack there of, Michael’s father Joe Jackson had a hard-nosed attitude and an even harder work ethic. At least that is what he seems to have extended to his kids. Joe did have somewhat of a career as an R&B guitarist but soon transitioned to become the manager of his kids that, in all fairness thanks to Joe, could dance, could sing and actually became a sensation. Plus all this provided a great learning experience for young Michael early on.
Flying With The Family
The Jackson 5 originally performed in talent shows and clubs on the Chitlin’ Circuit, but soon were releasing singles and originally became signed with Steeltown Records releasing the song “Big Boy” in 1968. The song sold around 10,000 copies.
Soon The Jackson 5 was put in contact with Berry Gordy from Motown Records. Within just ten years Gordy had built the record label from the ground up and with it, had become perhaps the most powerful man in black music. Gordy had already signed The Temptations, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Diana Ross.
By the time The Jackson 5 began to come into the picture Motown had already scored seventeen number one singles on the mainstream billboard hot 100 chart. It had thoroughly broken through the ‘race barrier’ and to this day; Motown is considered perhaps the most important thing that had happened musically for black people in America up to that time.
In 1968 The Jackson 5 auditioned on camera for Motown Records. Michael Jackson was front and center demonstrating his very best James Brown dance moves while the band gave one of their best performances, as well.
“I would do my schooling which was three hours with a tutor and right after that I would go to the recording studio and record, and I’d record for hours and hours until it’s time to go to sleep.” Michael Jackson
Michael stood out with a voice that was mature at such a young age. His performances while not yet the mesmerizing feats that we would later become known for, still immediately drew attention with his talent and verve.
The audition tape was sent direct to Berry Gordy in Los Angeles who, upon watching it, offered to sign The Jackson 5 almost immediately. The arrangement was ideal for the band and on October 6, 1969 they released the single “I Want You Back” becoming a No. 1 hit on the R&B chart and cementing their fame as one of the hottest black boy bands in America at that time.
A year later they followed it up with a string of successful singles including “ABC”, “The Love You Save”, and “I’ll Be There” which all became number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1967 The Jackson Five were earning up to $600 per gig. That’s about $5,000 today. By the 1970s that number had risen to more than five times that amount.
“And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I’d see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead.” Michael Jackson
The ‘Motown music machine’ was already well oiled and in full production by the time The Jackson 5 came along. Producing hit single after hit single. However at Motown, everything was controlled and the kids were told about public relations, image, record sales and ‘how that works’. Michael learned to lie early on, allegedly claiming to an interviewer that he was 8 years old when he was actually 11.
But it worked, and by the mid 1970s The Jackson 5 was at the forefront of American popular culture.
As much as the band enjoyed their shared success it soon became obvious that Michael’s talents were the main attraction and his improvement proved unstoppable.
Rolling Stone magazine was soon describing Michael as “a prodigy” with “overwhelming musical gifts” something that his siblings were somewhat left out on. While this was surely uplifting praise for young Michael, the gist from many was that “Michael’s needs were never considered”.
At 14 Michael was already recording solo singles. In 1972 he recorded “Rockin’ Robin” as a solo artist but as part of his contract he was also required to perform his solo singles as part of The Jackson 5. He followed it up with “Got To Be There,” and other hit singles.
As the years went on he was described as being “stick thin” and behind those eyes we can only speculate at what he was experiencing.
“I think every child star suffers through this period because you’re not the cute and charming child that you were. You start to grow, and they want to keep you little forever.” Michael Jackson
In an historic move Michael decided to step out from the family and flout Joe’s rules. He went to go and see rival Motown record label, Epic Records.
Finally Solo
Michael joined Epic Records at 18 and while many recount that Michael was already a certified musical genius by this age. His mind was like that of a child. Playing childish games and seemingly not properly mentally developing as other boys his age.
Then in 1977 he was offered the part of Scarecrow in the musical fantasy movie, The Wiz. This was a way that Michael could finally set himself apart from his brothers and begin to throw off the image of The Jackson 5. Positioning himself directly next to Diana Ross, and others, including Lena Horne and Richard Pryor.
Joe Jackson was dead against the move that would take Michael Jackson to New York and set him apart in a league of his own. As circumstances shifted however Michael managed to gain leverage over his father for the first time in his career. The producers of The Wiz provided shelter for Michael and allowed him to develop and grow away from Joe’s firm hands.
While the movie was a critical and commercial failure, it helped Michael form relationships that would help him as he continued his career on his own.
Jackson met producer Quincy Jones which was the beginning of a beyond belief collaboration. By this time Michael Jackson’s net worth is estimated to be close to $20,000 or about $88,000 adjusted for inflation. He was living in his own apartment close to central park.
Michael Jackson finally became a solo star with his album Off the Wall, released in 1979. Forbes estimated Jackson’s earnings that year of 1979 at $4 million dollars. Which is about $15.8 million in 2022 dollars. This also included revenue from his Destiny Tour. The Off the Wall album went on to sell more than 20 million copies.
He began to form a close relationship with Diana Ross who was 14 years older, but some say provided the love Michael so desperately needed in his life.
In his autobiography “Moonwalk,” Jackson called Ross “my mother, my lover and my sister all rolled into one.”
Black to White
In the late 1980s Michael Jackson began to change. Not just in attitude, but in skin color. Apparently he was diagnosed with Vitiligo in the early 80s, a condition where pale white patches develop on the skin. It’s said he tried to treat the disease for a number of years before turning to Benoquin, which is a topical treatment that eliminates melanin from skin cells and was the cause of Jackson’s sudden shift from black guy to “white guy”?
While it has of course been gossiped that Michael Jackson did this on purpose and he changed his skin color for his own cosmetic reasons. An autopsy report conducted after his death stated that there were “patches of light and dark pigmented areas” on examination of his skin. Vitiligo was also listed as a diagnosis in his medical history.
Skin color aside it is true that Michael Jackson did pay for some surgeries including two rhinoplasty surgeries and a cleft chin. He said he lost weight in the early 1980s because of a change in diet to achieve a dancer’s body. It’s not lost on me that he may have secretly been interested in transitioning m2f.
The King of Pop
Michael’s talent and music made him The King of Pop, a title he retains even after his death.
His incredible voice and talent for composing and producing music literally took him to the top of the music industry. From a young age, his talent already set him apart and he soon became the vocalist of The Jackson 5.
When Michael set course for a career as a solo artist, his popularity exploded with the release of dazzling albums like Thriller, Bad and Dangerous.
Michael’s work in charity, notably in composing, singing and producing We Are the World, a project to alleviate hunger in Africa, in particular, Ethiopia in 1985, was not only lauded as one of the most important projects where artists gave back, the album was also a huge commercial success selling more than 20 million copies worldwide and is the eighth best selling physical single of all time.
Michael Jackson was also recognized as a guru on the dance floor, inventing new dance moves and steps which continue to influence the youth of today. His crotch-grabbing move became a worldwide trend and is today a move seen used by rappers and R&B artists. On stage, Michael seemed to float with his moonwalk, and he’s seen leaning 45 degrees without falling down.
In the course of his career, Michael was awarded 13 Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Legend Award and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; 6 Brit Awards, 5 Billboard Music Awards and 24 American Music Awards.
“The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life. It is present in the infinity of forms and phenomena that exist in all of creation.” Michael Jackson
How did Michael Jackson get so rich?
Michael Jackson’s albums and sold-out concerts generated a huge fortune for him. Thriller alone generated a fortune estimated at more than $175 million dollars, just two years after its release. The years in which he earned the most money were in the ’80s and ’90s.
After Thriller. Bad; released in 1987 after a five-year hiatus, stomped the charts with 5 number one singles and went on to sell more than 45 million worldwide. Bad subsequently won Michael an Award of Achievement at the American Music Awards in 1989.
His next spectacularly successful album Dangerous released in 1991 was certified 7 times platinum, selling some 30 million copies worldwide. Together with the Bad and Dangerous world tours, there was no stopping Michael’s fortune from accelerating at an astonishing rate.
These and other successful albums, added to his numerous tours around the world, allowing the artist to achieve a level of fame and fortune that few are able to match.
Earnings
Michael Jackson has already earned more money as a dead musician than he did when he was alive. He is periodically listed among the highest earning dead celebrities, according to Forbes. Earning a combined $2.578 billion since his death in 2009.
In 2016, Forbes lists Jackson’s earnings at $825 million. In 2018, at $400 million and since his death in 2009, to date in 2022. Michael Jackson has earned an average of about $198.3 million dollars.
While he was still alive, Michael Jackson made one of the best investments that any music artist has made in history. His wealth enabled him to buy a part of the Sony ATV Beatles song catalogue for some $47.5 million.
This Beatles song catalogue would later generate millions of dollars more in royalties for Michael. In fact, 10 years later, Sony paid Jackson $115 million to form a joint venture company to hold the rights in equal shares. In 2016, the Jackson estate sold its shares in Sony ATV for $750 million dollars, and together with royalty earnings from Michael’s music and other rights, his estate generated an estimated $825 million dollars in revenue that year alone.
Significant properties that Michael’s estate held included a 75% share in The Hayvenhurst Mansion and Neverland ranch which boasted a total area of some 2,700 acres.
In the later years from the year 2000 onwards, Michael became very much a recluse, owing in large part to the legal troubles he was facing, having been indicted for child abuse.
During this period, Michael was reportedly in financial trouble and amongst various disposals he had made of his assets, he also planned a series of come back shows at the O2 Arena in London which were all sold out, but sadly just 3 weeks before the first show, Michael died from a cardiac arrest.
This is It, a documentary of Jackson preparing for his final tour, made an estimated $250 million dollars.
Michael Jackson earnings year on year
- In 1979 he earned an estimated $4 million dollars or about $16.4 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1980 he earned an estimated $9 million dollars or about $32.5 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1981 he earned an estimated $5 million dollars or about $16.4 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1982 he earned an estimated $6 million dollars or about $18.5 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1983 he earned an estimated $43 million dollars or about $128.6 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1984 he earned an estimated $91 million dollars or about $261 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1985 he earned an estimated $37 million dollars or about $102.4 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1986 he earned an estimated $20 million dollars or about $54.4 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1987 he earned an estimated $67 million dollars or about $175.7 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1988 he earned an estimated $125 million dollars or about $314.9 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1989 he earned an estimated $37 million dollars or about $88.9 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1990 he earned an estimated $34 million dollars or about $77.5 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1991 he earned an estimated $35 million dollars or about $76.6 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1992 he earned an estimated $64 million dollars or about $135.9 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1993 he earned an estimated $34 million dollars or about $70.1 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1994 he earned an estimated $19 million dollars or about $38.2 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1995 he earned an estimated $118 million dollars or about $230.7 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1996 he earned an estimated $71 million dollars or about $134.8 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1997 he earned an estimated $42 million dollars or about $77.9 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1998 he earned an estimated $18 million dollars or about $32.9 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 1999 he earned an estimated $17 million dollars or about $30.4 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2000 he earned an estimated $18 million dollars or about $35.1 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2001 he earned an estimated $34 million dollars or about $57.2 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2002 he earned an estimated $19 million dollars or about $31.4 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2003 he earned an estimated $21 million dollars or about $34 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2004 he earned an estimated $20 million dollars or about $31.5 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2005 he earned an estimated $23 million dollars or about $35 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2006 he earned an estimated $19 million dollars or about $28 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2007 he earned an estimated $18 million dollars or about $25.8 million adjusted for inflation.
- In 2008 he earned an estimated $13 million dollars or about $17.9 million adjusted for inflation.
Estimates according to Forbes via Zack O’Malley Greenburg for Michael Jackson, Inc. Inflation adjusted to April, 2002.
On June 25th, 2009, at 50 years old, Michael Jackson passed away. During his lifetime he had earned close to $2.307 billion dollars adjusted for inflation in 2022.
What Made Him So Successful?
Michael Jackson’s talent was simply quite extraordinary. While he had a vocal range and versatility that enabled him to switch between music genres effortlessly, but it was those little vocal “hiccups” and stutters that set Michael’s singing techniques apart from anyone else. Michael wasn’t just a brilliant singer, as a dancer, he was both technically superior as well as wonderfully creative. When he first performed his unique moonwalk in 1983 to the song Billie Jean, he sparked a new dance move which enraptured everyone.
Musically, after Michael ventured out on his own as a solo artist, he traded in the happy bubblegum sounds of his younger days for a more sophisticated sound which often combined Black R&B, White pop and rock into a different kind of music.
“I’m never pleased with anything, I’m a perfectionist, it’s part of who I am.” Michael Jackson
This new genre revolutionized the music industry, breaking racial barriers and receiving praise from essentially everyone at the time. Counting out the odd naysayer as always, of course.
With an extraordinary voice, killer dance moves and the ability to make new music, it was no wonder Micheal quickly became not just an artist, but a cultural force that the world had not seen before.
Thriller was originally projected by its producer to hit 2 million copies in sales, but it went on to stay a record 37 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold tens of millions more copies. The album and video of Thriller and the making of made Michael a very rich artist, although some would say that his later troubles originated from the unparalleled success of Thriller.
Summing-Up
The fame of Michael Jackson is such that his estate has already earned more money than he did when he was alive. The money that he earned during his life partly went to charity and to his mother Katherine Jackson and his children Prince Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II and Paris Jackson. His father Joe Jackson was ominously not mentioned in the will. Since his death Michael Jackson has been the highest paid dead celebrity every year aside from 2012, when the top spot was occupied by Elizabeth Taylor. That year Jackson’s estate earned $145 million, Elizabeth Taylor’s $210 million.
Michael Jackson was a complicated man with one of the highest degrees of musical talent. As he said so himself while he was still alive, “I was a veteran, before I was a teenager.” I wonder if it hadn’t been for his father Joe and the pressure of growing up so poor in Gary, Indiana might Michael have chosen a different life for himself? The world would be at a great loss without his music but does achievement measure the quality and enjoyment of life?
I am sure he loved every moment of performing. Yet still I think many detected behind his eyes laid a mysteriousness, not so much strange but repressed and perhaps he felt pressured to try and conform; as ironic as that may sound given the outcomes.
Michael Jackson’s legend will live on in his music and dance as he retains the title of King of Pop to this day. We may never know his true thoughts and feelings but we can be sure that we all owe him a great debt for his delivering to us his music.
“My mother’s wonderful. To me she’s perfection.” Michael Jackson
