At one stage last year Jackson owed $200 million to creditors including
Sony, his record label. The battle to untangle the assets of Jackson, are set to be a nightmare for administrators, as his assets which include joint venture companies with
Sony are wide spread.
His death is set to see tens of millions of dollars pour into his estate as consumers pour into retail stores to buy his music. Both iTunes and eBay have reported record sales today of anything linked to Michael Jackson.
In New Zealand, record stores have reported record sales of Michael Jackson music with many already running out of stock. Australian record stores have been rushed for any Jackson CD, DVDs and memorabillia in the wake of his sudden death.
And Jackson's albums and songs have soared up the iTunes chart for the first time in years.
Music industry insiders have compared the phenomenon to sales of Elvis Presley's and John Lennon's music after they died. Sony is expected to work furiously this weekend to produce hundreds of thousands of copies of Jackson's catalogue.
"I've never seen anything like this," JB HiFi's national music buyer Derek Durrant said.
"People rushed out and bought everything we had within a few hours of his death. The reaction has been the strongest I've ever seen in similar circumstances.
"People just want to buy whatever is available from Michael Jackson, from Jackson 5 to the solo material to the DVDs.
"We've always had reasonable stocks of his material as it's always sold strongly, but there's nothing left."
Jackson could posthumously top the charts in Australia this week, with most local music retailers selling out of Jackson's albums and DVDs hours after his death was announced on Friday.
Music insiders have compared the sales boost to the same rush generated by the deaths of John Lennon and Elvis Presley.
Nat Moss from JB Hi-Fi's Bondi store in Sydney said customers were now on a waiting list to buy Jackson's music.
"We've been sold out since before lunchtime on the first day," she said. "All sorts of people are buying them, but a lot of middle-aged women.
"We're completely out of all his concert DVDs and all the Jackson 5." However, Jackson's expected rise to the top of the Aussie charts won't be known until July 6, when the official ARIA charts for sales during the week of his death are released.
Sony is said to be planning the release of new DVD's as well as music videos and compile albums of all his recordings this week with the Company now pressing new DVD's and CD's to go on sale in time for his funeral.
Last year Sony sought protection on their borrowings to Jackson who has a 50/50 joint venture interest in Sony/ATV which is music catalogue company. Shortly after his string of early 1980s hits that included Thriller, one of the best-selling albums of all time, Jackson was advised to buy the Beatles catalogue for $47 million. Ten years later, Jackson merged his music company with Sony's music publishing arm in a deal reportedly worth $90 million to him.
