Katherine Jackson: The $500 Million Woman?
Lawyers fight over Michael's worth as his mother calls up mystery reinforcement.
Aug. 10, 2009— -- Judge Mitchell Beckloff approved a $60 million dollar movie deal between the Michael Jackson's estate and the promotor of a concert planned before his death, which features footage of the singer's final performances.
The decision was made during a hearing concerning the singer's estate.
The administrators of Jackson's estate are exploring all kinds of deals to benefit the pop star's estate, including distribution rights to Michael Jackson-branded products, that could help compensate for Jackson's legendary debt and any losses by concert promoter AEG Live. AEG paid $30 million for a series of concert Jackson was scheduled to play in London later this year.
Under the terms of the proposed contract, the film will have to be screened for Jackson's estate and cannot include any footage that puts the superstar in a bad light, according to The Associated Press.
Columbia Pictures paid $60 million for rights to the film, and the contract states Jackson's estate is slated to receive 90 percent of its profits.
Katherine Jackson did not object to the film, but her attorneys have raised questions about other agreements concerning AEG Live and merchandiser Bravado, according to the AP.
Lost in the paperwork surrounding Jackson's death and estate is the remarkable resolve of Katherine, the family's 79-year-old matriarch.
Last week Beckloff awarded her permanent custody of Jackson's three young children, with whom she will share 80 percent of Jackson's estate.
As insiders debate Jackson's true worth, Katherine is also putting in place plans for who will get custody of Jackson's children when old age inevitably keeps the family's matriarch from being able to care for them.
The executors of Jackson's will estimate that the king of pop's fortune is worth more than $500 million, but it remains to be determined just how much he is really worth.
"You know there's a tremendous debt. There's a lot of misinformation as to whether his estate is $2 billion. It's not. It's $400 million in the hole. So it's going to take a little hard work and tact and people with knowledge to get it out of that. It's possible," said Jackson's manger Frank Dileo.
The Los Angeles coroner has yet to release a toxicology report officially determining Jackson's cause of death, but investigators have said drug use played a major role.
How Jackson died raises questions about whether the insurance policy taken out on Jackson by AEG will pay for a death related to what the policy calls "illicit use of drugs."
While Dileo claims Jackson's debt cancels much of his worth, the Jackson family believe the singer's estate is worth billions of dollars and wants more control of it.
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