[rocknation]

Executors say Michael Jackson was worth $7 million when he died.
The IRS says it's more like $1.125 billion and wants $702 million in taxes and penalties

...According to documents filed with the (United States) Tax Court in Washington (DC), Jackson's executors placed his net worth at the time of his June 2009 death at slightly more than $7 million. The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) placed it at $1.125 billion, a difference so vast it looks like a typo...

Jackson's return was so inaccurate, the IRS said, that it qualified for a...penalty which would allow the government to double the usual 20% penalty for underpayment...

• The estate valued Jackson's likeness at just $2,105. The IRS put it at $434.264 million.
  
• The estate put the value of the pop star's interest in the trust that owns the Beatles' and Jackson's songs at zero. The IRS put it at $469 million...
• Jackson's interest in another trust was worth $60.6 million, not $2.2 million...
• The estate valued...Jackson's share of the rights to the Jackson 5 master recordings...at $11.193 million, while the IRS placed their worth at nearly $45.5 million...
• Jackson had three Rolls-Royces and a 2001 Bentley Arnage that the IRS said were worth $250,000, not the $91,600 the estate placed on them...

The Jackson estate probably would argue that before he died, the singer had neither toured nor released a CD for several years, and his public image had been severely damaged by allegations of child molestation. Companies were not exactly begging Jackson to endorse their products or trying to make deals with him.

(But) since he died, Jackson's recordings have...earned $475 million, according to a court filing in July 2012. Forbes magazine reported in October 2013 that Jackson was the highest-paid celebrity that year — dead or alive — earning $160 million. Much of the money...came from...Cirque du Soleil shows based on Jackson's music, one at Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and another that tours the world...

Well, I guess Michael's life just wasn't eventful enough for some people. I certainly don't begrudge his estate wanting to hold on to as much as possible. But either the IRS needs a refresher course, or the estate's accountants used inflation-adjusted dollars -- adjusted to the seventeenth century. It's enough to make you wonder if anyone really cared for Michael at all.

Quincy Jones sues Jackson's estate

Music producer Quincy Jones is suing Michael Jackson's estate, claiming he is owed millions in royalties and production fees on some of the superstar's greatest hits.

Jones' lawsuit seeks at least 10 million dollars (£6.2m) from the singer's estate and Sony Music Entertainment, claiming they improperly re-edited songs to deprive him of royalties and production fees. The music has been used in the film This Is It and a pair of Cirque du Soleil shows based on the King of Pop's songs...

(T)he lawsuit states...(that) Jackson's hits Billie Jean, Thriller and Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough are among the songs Jones claims were re-edited to deprive him of royalties and his producer's fee...(T)he producer's contracts called for him to have the first opportunity to re-edit or alter the songs, in part to protect his reputation.

Et tu, Quincy? The tour began in late 2011 -- it's taken you two years to figure out that someone has desecrated your "reputation"? And what's the OTHER part, protecting your bank balance?