How Rich Was Whacko Jacko?

Now if this isn’t relevant financial news, I don’t know what is!

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s one of the biggest mysteries in the Michael Jackson saga: How much was the lavish-spending, massively debt-ridden pop icon really worth?

In the most detailed account yet of the singer’s tangled financial empire, documents obtained by The Associated Press show Jackson claimed to have a net worth of $236.6 million as of March 31, 2007. But less than $700,000 of that amount was in cash — a relatively paltry sum given his opulent lifestyle, prodigious borrowing and seven-figure shopping sprees.

The revelation came Tuesday as Jackson’s family reversed itself and said the singer did in fact have a will — complicating a bid by Jackson’s mother to take control of her son’s finances. The will names his mother Katherine as guardian of his children and puts his assets in a trust, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the topic.

Jackson had $567.6 million in assets, including his Neverland Ranch and his share of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog, which includes the rights to songs by the Beatles, according to a statement of financial condition prepared by Washington, D.C.-based accounting firm Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio & Associates.

The report was prepared at a time when Jackson had large sums of debt coming due that had to be refinanced. The financial statement, which is not as thorough as an audit, was based in large part on estimates provided by Jackson’s advisers that the accounting firm said it could not verify..

The five-page report says Jackson had debts of $331 million. The singer had just $668,215 in cash, according to the report

What We Should All Have Learned From the King of Pop

Lesson 1) Get a good accountant

Lesson 2) Do some sort of financial planning, have your monies in order

Lesson 3) Call it quits before you reach your 11th cosmetic procedure