.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Bully Pulpit

The term "bully pulpit" stems from President Theodore Roosevelt's reference to the White House as a "bully pulpit," meaning a terrific platform from which to persuasively advocate an agenda. Roosevelt often used the word "bully" as an adjective meaning superb/wonderful. The Bully Pulpit features news, reasoned discourse, opinion and some humor.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Where Did MJ's Money Go? His Crazy Day-to-Day Expenses Revealed

(Fox News) - Michael Jackson left behind a legacy of being an amazing artist but he also left behind $400 million worth of debt. And as the man who had the best-selling album of all-time ("Thriller"), has had the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard charts of any male and has won more awards than any other artist, many are asking how on earth he managed to rack up so many unpaid bills?

Aside from losing tens of millions of dollars during his child molestation trial, Jackson didn't put out any significant new material since 1997. But more detrimental to his finances was his notorious big-spending. Last week we revealed his automobile fixation (he had 75 cars registered under his name) and according to financial statements at the time of his divorce to Debbie Rowe in 1999, his cost of living at the time averaged a whooping $2,339,300 per month.

Documents filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court in September of 1999 show that Jackson spent $95, 700 on the gardening alone to maintain the sprawling Neverland Ranch. Security costs totaled another $51,900. Upkeep on his famous zoo/amusement park was another $66,200 and housekeeping/PR expenses stood at around $60,200 bringing the grand total monthly household expense to an astonishing $358,600. Colony Capital, the company that bought Neverland in 2008, is now responsible for the ranch's maintenance.

When it came to personal expenses, the court documents show Jackson reportedly forked out $178,100 on legal services, $120,000 on personal/property insurance, $25,600 on medical needs, $42,600 on gifts -- but only $100 a month on entertainment. Overall, his personal expenses were estimated at $1, 420,600 monthly. In addition, MJ spent $85,500 on transportation and a further $475,200 on MJJ Productions and Optimum Productions.

Overall, it would cost $2,339,300 to live the life of Michael Jackson for just one month. And that would likely put anyone in debt.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home