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Post by NatureCriminal7896 on Jun 3, 2023 21:53:11 GMT
Michael Jackson’s Estate Spent $6.5 Million On Legal Fees In 12 Months; Another $412k On Security To Protect Late Pop Star’s Family Michael Jackson’s estate revealed it spent hundreds of thousands to protect the late pop star’s family in a span of 12 months, RadarOnline.com has learned. The estate, run by executors John Branca and John McClain, submitted an updated financial report in court. The filing, obtained by RadarOnline.com, covered the period of time from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019. During the year, the estate said it paid Michael’s 92-year-old mother Katherine nearly $1 million in an “allowance.” Further, the executors approved the singer’s daughter Paris spending $723k on home construction costs. The executors have been handling Michael’s estate since his death on June 25, 2009. The beneficiaries of the estate are Michael’s three children, Prince, Paris, and Blanket. However, the legendary entertainer made sure his will provided for his mother for the remainder of her life. Branca and McClain take credit for saving the estate from the verge of collapse. The duo said Michael was heavily in debt at the time of his death but their work has turned his estate profitable. The financial report said the estate has generated gross earnings exceeding two billion dollars. The executors revealed the estate pulled in $70 million in 2019 and had over $700 million worth of assets. The report said Katherine Jackson was paid $969,432 in allowance payments for 2019 while Paris received $723k for her home. Her brother Prince was paid out $23k for construction on his residence. In addition, the family spent $412,942.98 on security for Michael’s main home at Hayvenhurst and his former condo. The estate paid a company called Global Entertainment Security for the work. Another expense was listed as $108k paid to Tito Jackson Jr. for his services as guardianship. Tito was appointed guardianship of Michael’s children after Katherine became sick in 2012. The estate also listed $692k spent on storage fees and $561k on public relations fees. In addition, $6.5 million was spent on legal fees and associated costs. As RadarOnline.com first reported, the estate and Katherine are locked in a nasty court battle at the moment over a proposed deal the executors secured. radaronline.com/p/michael-jackson-estate-spent-6-million-legal-fees-12-months-412000-security-pop-star-family/ |
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Post by NatureCriminal7896 on Jun 3, 2023 22:15:20 GMT
Michael Jackson’s 92-year-old Mother Katherine Files Appeal to Stop Secret Deal Put Together by Pop Star’s Estate Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine has not given up in her fight against her late son’s estate over a proposed deal, RadarOnline.com has learned. According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, 92-year-old Katherine and her legal team revealed they are appealing the recent court ruling in favor of the estate. As we first reported, last year, the estate, run by executors John Branca and John McClain, asked the court to approve a confidential deal. Branca and McClain have run Michael’s estate since his death on June 25, 2009. The two said the transaction would be lucrative to the beneficiaries of Michael’s estate — his children Prince, Paris and Blanket. In his will, Michael added a provision that said his mother will be supported for the remainder of her life. Recently, Katherine filed an opposition to the deal. Her motion was kept under seal and the reasonings for fighting it are unclear. The estate fired back at Katherine claiming she had previously opposed big deals that brought in millions. Branca and McClain pointed to the 2009 documentary film This Is It, which was released after Michael’s death. The executors said Katherine had tried to fight the deal but was shut down by the court. Eventually, the film became one of the highest-grossing concert films ever released. The executors argue their work has turned Michael’s estate profitable. “The Estate was teetering on the verge of collapse, with more than $400 million in debt that encumbered Michael’s most significant assets and little or no liquidity or means to service that debt. Through creative thinking, hard work and business savvy—and, of course, Michael’s extraordinary creative legacy—the Executors transformed the MJJ Business into a profitable enterprise,” the executors said. The judge ended up signing off on the estate’s recent despite Katherine testifying in court. The order stated, “The proposed transaction is approved and the executors are authorized and instructed to take all actions necessary to implement the proposed transaction, including but not limited to signing all contracts and performing all obligations required of the estate.” Now, Katherine has taken the matter to the higher court in hopes of overturning the decision. radaronline.com/p/michael-jackson-mom-katherine-files-appeal-secret-deal-pop-star-estate-fight-court-battle/ |
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Post by NatureCriminal7896 on Jun 3, 2023 22:37:36 GMT
Michael Jackson’s Estate Fears His Mother Katherine’s Objections Will Torpedo Deal Potentially Worth Hundreds Of Millions For Late Pop Star's Kids Michael Jackson’s estate fears his 93-year-old mother Katherine’s objections to a proposed deal will cause them to lose out on millions — that would go to the late pop star’s children, RadarOnline.com has learned. As RadarOnline.com first reported, last year, Michael’s estate, run by executors John Branca and John McClain, asked the court to approve a lucrative transaction. The details of the deal were kept under seal but shared with Katherine Jackson and Michael’s children: Paris, Prince, and Blanket. Branca and McClain have overseen the estate since Michael’s death in 2009. The only beneficiaries of Michael’s fortune are his children. However, he had a provision in his will that instructed the executors to take care of Katherine for the remainder of her life. A couple of months after the estate presented the deal, Katherine filed an opposition to the transaction. Katherine’s reasons for fighting the proposal were noted in a sealed filing. In response, Branca and McClain said they had worked magic since taking over control of Michael’s finances. “The Estate was teetering on the verge of collapse, with more than $400 million in debt that encumbered Michael’s most significant assets and little or no liquidity or means to service that debt. Through creative thinking, hard work and business savvy—and, of course, Michael’s extraordinary creative legacy—the Executors transformed the MJJ Business into a profitable enterprise,” the executors said. Branca and McClain pointed out that Katherine had issues in 2009 when they put together This is It, which they said became one of the highest-grossing concert films of all time. The judge ended up signing off on the proposal despite Katherine’s objections. The order read, “The proposed transaction is approved and the executors are authorized and instructed to take all actions necessary to implement the proposed transaction, including but not limited to signing all contracts and performing all obligations required of the estate.” A couple of days later, Katherine filed an appeal of the decision which has yet to be decided. In newly obtained court documents, RadarOnline.com has learned the estate has fears the appeal will torpedo the entire deal. Branca and McClain said “given the amount of time that an appeal will take — almost certainly more than a year … it is unlikely that this deal will be on the table for the Executors to accept at the conclusion of appellate proceedings. Offer of this magnitude are not typically left open for months or years at a time, with no certainty that they will ever close. This is particularly true here since the economics of the deal necessarily change with the passage of time.” The Executors noted that they fear if the deal falls apart and they secure another favorable deal, one of the beneficiaries will object regardless of how lucrative. The filing noted that one family member’s objection is not that the deal is bad but rather the family member does not want to proceed with any such transaction of the kind. One source said the verbiage used could indicate the deal regards Michael’s music catalog. The Executors said the court should step in and help them stop the interference. Branca and McClain believe they have the right to make the deals despite any family member’s objections. The duo claimed the loss could be greater than $400 million. radaronline.com/p/michael-jackson-estate-fears-mom-katherine-will-ruin-deal-worth-hundreds-of-millions-court-battle-kids/ |
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Post by NatureCriminal7896 on Jun 3, 2023 23:03:44 GMT
Michael Jackson’s 93-year-old Mother Katherine Tears Into Executors in Charge of Late Pop Star’s Estate Over Secret Deals Michael Jackson’s 93-year-old mother Katherine is not backing down from her fight with the executors in charge of her late son’s estate — and accusing them of keeping her in the dark about deals until the last minute, RadarOnline.com has learned. According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Katherine accused the executors, John Branca and John McClain, of failing to inform her of a substantial deal while they were negotiating it. Instead, she said they told her about it when they brought a petition in court asking a judge to sign off on it. As we first reported, last year, Branca and McClain asked the court for approval to enter into a lucrative transaction with a third party. The executors have been in charge of Michael’s estate ever since his death in 2009. The beneficiaries of the estate are Michael’s children: Paris, Prince and Blanket. The entertainer’s will had a provision that instructed his team to take care of Katherine for the remainder of her life. A couple of months after the executors presented the deal, Katherine filed an official objection to the proposal. Her filing was kept under seal — which hid her arguments opposing the transaction. Branca and McClain fought back against Katherine claiming they had saved Michael’s estate from ruin. “The Estate was teetering on the verge of collapse, with more than $400 million in debt that encumbered Michael’s most significant assets and little or no liquidity or means to service that debt. Through creative thinking, hard work and business savvy—and, of course, Michael’s extraordinary creative legacy—the Executors transformed the MJJ Business into a profitable enterprise,” the executors said. Branca and McClain accused Katherine of previously objecting to deals that turned out to be uber-profitable for the estate. The judge ended up siding with the estate and approved the deal. However, Katherine has appealed the decision and is still fighting to block it. The estate recently said the appeal could ruin the entire deal. They argued the offer could be taken off the table if they wait too long — pointing out that an appeal could take a year to resolve. All signs point to the deal in question being the sale of Michael's music catalog. Sources said the estate has a potential deal worth $800 million. In a newly filed document, Katherine said the estate’s argument is purely speculative. She argued they have no idea if the deal would be gone or not once the appeal is handled. Further, her lawyer said, “the Executors present a parade of horribles that will allegedly occur if Katherine is allowed to exercise her constitutional right of appeal, but a great deal of what they say is based upon assumptions, speculation or factual assertions that were not presented at trial.” Katherine argued that the executors should have brought the deal to the beneficiaries before taking it to the court. She argued the executors should determine in “advance whether the beneficiaries (“the people the executors are supposed to be representing”) are interested in pursuing whatever transaction the Executors believe should be pursued.” She said Michael’s children and her all live in Los Angeles and are “obviously available for discussions. As the ultimate owners of all these assets, they should be consulted before the Executors seek to sell some of all of their unique inheritance.” Katherine said the beneficiaries “are the only people who will inherit any of these assets, and they would be well within their rights to decide that they have enough money for themselves and their heirs to live on.” Michael’s mother said she was “not consulted about this transaction at any time before she was served with a petition for its approval. At her first reasonable opportunity, she let her wishes be known.” Katherine demanded her appeal move forward and the executors not be allowed to move forward with the deal. radaronline.com/p/michael-jackson-93-year-old-mother-katherine-rips-executors-john-branca-mcclain-secret-deals-paris-prince/ |
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Post by NatureCriminal7896 on Jun 3, 2023 23:27:38 GMT
I already didn't like John Branca but to know he doing this to a 93 year old woman and Prince, Paris, and Bigi, (Blanket) make me look at him more differently now.
Michael should have kept this man fired. he probably didn't have anyone else at the time but to see what he doing now and almost 14 years since Michael passed this shows me alot things about him.
everyone was right about John Branca including the black community.
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Post by elusivemoonwalker on Jun 5, 2023 16:16:32 GMT
I'm with other fans and on Team Katherine. Keep fighting Katherine. Do you know what Katherine is fighting for? Because in truth we haven't seen the content of her objection. Or what she's objecting at all, for that matter. Agree. What has she or randy etc got to hide.why seal it Everytime the family object to a deal the only feeling i get is that they are concerend about the loss of potential money for them via kj. |
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Post by respect77 on Jun 5, 2023 18:36:36 GMT
I doubt Katherine is doing anything at 93. Randy and co. are probably behind the objection. It also seems MJ's kids aren't objecting.
Before judging any if this I'd like to know:
1. What's the deal?
2. What do MJ's kids want? (IMO whatever they want should be prioritized, since it's their inheritance.)
3. If it's the sale of the catalog what it would mean for the treatment of MJ's legacy in the future? Will it open new, better opportunities, a better treatment etc?
I know fans have a knee jerk reaction to the sale of MJ's catalog (or a part of it), but I think whether it's a good or bad thing depends on the conditions. It seems to be a trend now that everyone and their mother is selling their catalog for big money, they can't be all stupid. As for the principle of artists owning their catalog: well, MJ is dead, he does't own anything anymore. Since he's dead his catalog is always going to be owned by someone else, so I'm not sentimental about that, especially if sentiment would get in the way of something that's potentially and practically good. Besides what's the alternative? It's the Estate owning it, whom typically the fans who hate Sony, also hate. Or MJ's kids? What if they don't want to take this burden on themselves? If their life goal is not managing their father's music? They shouldn't be forced to just because fans have certain expectations of them.
If that Variety article earlier this year is true then it looks like a great deal to me. $800-$900 for HALF of MJ's catalog while (by still owning half of it) the heirs would still maintain control of what can or cannot be done with MJ's art, without them having to deal with actually managing it.
I have been critical of Branca and co. in terms of artistic choices but their sense of business has been good so far. And I'm also not buying that Randy is blocking it out of some kind of principle. He's the guy who tried to get MJ sell the ATV catalog to a shady business man, so he has no such principles. Randy is the last person MJ would want to dictate his business IMO (based on that deposition that MJ gave about Randy in 2007).
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Post by history2010 on Jun 5, 2023 20:27:36 GMT
I agree with the others here that it is likely that Katherine is serving as a proxy for other family members. I suspect some of her sons and daughters are in her ear and their concerns are being presented as Katherine's. It's hard for us to judge what's going on because we don't know for sure what the proposed deal is.
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Post by respect77 on Feb 10, 2024 4:07:24 GMT
Apparently this is happening now.
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Post by elusivemoonwalker on Feb 10, 2024 15:52:10 GMT
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Post by WildStyle on Feb 10, 2024 23:32:13 GMT
Maybe we'll finally get some quality releases now. Probably wishful thinking.
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Post by aazzaabb on Feb 10, 2024 23:38:26 GMT
Maybe we'll finally get some quality releases now. Probably wishful thinking. Definitely. Although I don’t think it’s wishful thinking, more that they’ll have plans to use what they’re getting, surely? I mean, it certainly can’t be anything worse than the past 15 years. I’m not really sure why people are up in arms over it. MJ is gone and a lot of older artists are selling their catalogs for massive fees. People making it a race issue is utterly bizarre. It’s like one of the biggest catalog deals of all time. There’s no victims here, just more wealth acquired by MJ’s estate and his children. This is good for fans also because if a label is going to pay that kind of coin they have big plans for MJ’s music also. Surely. |
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Post by NatureCriminal7896 on Feb 10, 2024 23:41:31 GMT
As some who is a black American i knew it! i freaking knew it! i cried last night when i heard. this is terrible news i'm lost for words. i'm am so heartbroken. my heart goes out to the family especially Katherine she tried so hard to fight for her baby. terrible. just terrible. out of all the people they choose Sony? SONY?! What The Actually Freak?! smh. Kanye, Jay- Z, and all the other black artists were right. they knew what they were doing sicking! i really hope someone like Kanye and Jay-Z or any other black artists step in. both Kanye and Jay-Z has their own music companies. the fact they did this during black history month in America is sicking! it's nothing but a slap in the face to Michael and the black community as a whole this is a loss. terrible. just terrible. Rest In Power brother Michael. 😢😢😢✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽💔💔💔  |
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Post by aazzaabb on Feb 10, 2024 23:54:28 GMT
As some who is a black American i knew it! i freaking knew it! i cried last night when i heard. this is terrible news i'm lost for words. i'm am so heartbroken. my heart goes out to the family especially Katherine she tried so hard to fight for her baby. terrible. just terrible. out of all the people they choose Sony? SONY?! What The Actually Freak?! smh. Kanye, Jay- Z, and all the other black artists were right. they knew what they were doing sicking! i really hope someone like Kanye and Jay-Z or any other black artists step in. both Kanye and Jay-Z has their own music companies. the fact they did this during black history month in America is sicking! it's nothing but a slap in the face to Michael and the black community as a whole this is a loss. terrible. just terrible. Rest In Power brother Michael. 😢😢😢✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽💔💔💔 You do realise this news isn’t anything new right? And that we’ve known about this for quite a long time. I’m not sure why you cried? Are you aware that this makes MJ one of the wealthiest (if not the wealthiest) posthumous artists of all time? I’m not sure exactly how this hurts you in particular as a black person? 🤔 Kanye is an anti semite and JayZ was a drug dealer, and his wife has more Grammys than anyone lol! But they’re victims right? |
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Post by respect77 on Feb 11, 2024 4:22:07 GMT
As some who is a black American i knew it! i freaking knew it! i cried last night when i heard. this is terrible news i'm lost for words. i'm am so heartbroken. my heart goes out to the family especially Katherine she tried so hard to fight for her baby. terrible. just terrible. out of all the people they choose Sony? SONY?! What The Actually Freak?! smh. Kanye, Jay- Z, and all the other black artists were right. they knew what they were doing sicking! i really hope someone like Kanye and Jay-Z or any other black artists step in. both Kanye and Jay-Z has their own music companies. the fact they did this during black history month in America is sicking! it's nothing but a slap in the face to Michael and the black community as a whole this is a loss. terrible. just terrible. Rest In Power brother Michael. 😢😢😢✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽💔💔💔 Maybe try not to be so emotionally invested in a business deal that's about someone else's money and assets. In this case MJ's children's who didn't seem to object the deal, so probably they agree with it. To me it seems like a great deal and I don't see much downside to it. They will receive lots of money, the kind of money they would have to wait a lifetime or more to get if they kept it and just relied on streaming income and the like. All the while still keeping 50 percent of it, so they will still have control over what MJ's music can be used for. And it doesn't have anything to do with race. This seems to be a trend now, especially for legacy artists. I'm pretty sure these artists get top notch business advise and they aren't all stupid. There's a reason for this and it's probably good taking care of their legacy and financially, their heirs' future. Here are some of those deals from the near past: Bruce Springsteen selling his catalog to Sony for $550 million. www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/arts/music/bruce-springsteen-sells-music-catalog.htmlBob Dylan selling his catalog to Sony for $150-200 million. He earlier already sold his songwriting catalog to Universal Music for $250-300 million. variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-sells-recorded-music-catalog-to-sony-music-1235161614/David Bowie Estate selling his catalog to Warner Chappell for $250 million variety.com/2022/music/news/david-bowie-publishing-catalog-acquired-warner-chappell-1235145941/Prince Estate selling nearly half his catalog to Primary Wave. www.nme.com/news/music/prince-estate-sells-nearly-half-of-late-singers-rights-to-new-york-music-publisher-3007931Queen is in the process of selling their catalog for $1.2 billion. This was in the news only 4 days ago: www.billboard.com/business/business-news/queen-catalog-sale-close-price-worth-1235600412/amp/I'm critical of Branca for his artistic leadership of the Estate but I don't think he ever did bad business for MJ or his heirs. And this seems to me like stellar business. $600-750 for half of MJ's catalog is a record high sum for a catalog. (It's only Queen's current deal that's anywhere near, but it apparently contains more.) As for the emotional side of it. I get it that for every artist it's great to own and control their own catalog. But that only matters until an artist is alive. After that it's always someone else who's going to own and control it. Whether the artist's heirs/family or a company. I don't think a family is better equipped to make good choices for the management of a catalog. They are usually not experts in the publishing field or even business. They are not going to be able to compete with big companies with great infrastructure. Also, families often get in in-fights about what to do. (See Prince Estate.) And often the heirs just have other plans for themselves in life than dealing with music publishing. Do MJ fans want to force PPB to work in this business even if that's not what they plan for themselves? Fans need to know their place. It's not their catalog, not their money, not their life. It's MJ's children's. If they agreed to this deal who are fans to tell them otherwise? |
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