The "King of Pop" was more than $500 million in debt when he tragically died in 2009, RadarOnline.comhas learned.
The shocking nine-figure amount was revealed in a petition filed June 21 by the executors of Michael Jackson's estate in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The filing noted that Jackson died before kicking off his highly anticipated This is It concert tour in London, leaving his estate financially liable for $40 million to the tour promoter, AEG Live.
Jackson owed money to more than 65 creditors when he passed away, the court docs stated, requesting that funds from the music icon's estate — now valued at $2 billion — be used to reimburse the executors’ attorneys for legal services and other expenses in 2018.
The executors settled or disposed of most of the creditors' claims and litigation, it was noted.
The executors' attorneys said matters were made more complicated as Jackson had "changed business managers, lawyers, and personal managers several times in the years immediately prior to his death," leaving them forced to track down documents that were "scattered around the country."
"At the time of Michael Jackson's death, Michael Jackson's most significant assets were subject to more than $500 million of debt and creditors' claims, with some of the debt accruing interest at extremely high interest rates, and some debt in default," the docs stated.
"The Executors, with the assistance of their legal team, worked to bring all debt current, and negotiated and restructured the debt at interest rates far more favorable to the Estate so that the Estate was able to and has paid in full all of the debt that so heavily burdened Michael Jackson during his life."
Jackson tragically died at his Los Angeles mansion at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009.
He died of acute propofol intoxication and his physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for providing the drug to the singer. Murray served about two years at a Los Angeles County jail before being released in October 2013.
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Jackson is survived by his three children: Prince, 27, Paris, 26, and Bigi, 21.
"Miss you pops," Prince wrote in a tribute on the 15th anniversary of his death alongside a photo of Jackson performing during the 1993 Super Bowl XXVII halftime show. "The world felt better with you in it."
