Better Dead Than Alive: Michael Jackson Estate Rakes In The Dough

In his final years, Michael Jackson only managed to run himself into huge debt, at one point running more than $400 million in the red. His lavish spending as well as legal problems, as well as poor money management skills only helped to turn him into the king of debt. Then he turned that all around by dying, and his estate has made a hefty profit that ranges from $310 million up to $1 billion, depending on the source cited since his death. That's quite a turnaround. Who knew that death could be so darn profitable?

It also looks likely that his estate will manage to release new Cds of unreleased songs as well as DVDs and other items into the next seven years or so, guaranteeing a pretty long run of financial windfalls for the once troubled Michael Jackson empire. After so much money problems among Jackson family members, where Janet was the sole profitable entertainer in the past few years, Michael Jackson's new fortunes should help lift his family back into solvency once again. There can be no better gift than that.

Michael Jackson's big financial turnaround has also made him the current leader of the biggest grossing dead celebrities on Forbes list as well, leaving dead Elvis and others well in the dust at just $55 million. Michael Jackson unfortunately might look a little bit like his zombie video character these days. But, that sure isn't stopping him from making lots of money in death.