LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Jackson the singer was also Michael Jackson, the billion-dollar business.
Yet after selling more than 61 million albums in the U.S. alone and having a decade-long attraction open at Disney theme parks, the "King of Pop" died Thursday at age 50, reportedly awash in about $400 million in debt.
The bombshell hit in 1993 when he was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy. He settled with the boy's family.
According to Michael Levine, his publicist at the time, "That kind of represents the beginning of the walk down a tragic path, financially, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, legally."
As his financial problems continued, Jackson began to borrow large sums of money, according to a 2002 lawsuit by Union Finance & Investment Corp.
In 2003, Jackson was arrested on charges that he molested another 13-year-old boy. The 2005 trial, which ultimately ended in an acquittal, brought to light more details of Jackson's strained finances.
One forensic accountant testified the singer had an "ongoing cash crisis" and was spending $20 million to $30 million more per year than he earned.
Time and again, however, Jackson found a way to wring cash out of high-value assets, borrowing tens of millions at a time or leaning on wealthy friends for advice, if not for money.
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