By: Olivia Xia

Recent court documents have revealed the secrets to Michael Jackson’s insane spending habits. The world famous pop-star died millions of dollars in debt, despite record-breaking tours and songs.

Tour promoter A.E.G filed a claim against the Michael Jackson Estate in the Los Angeles County Superior Court this month. The claims reveal that the famous popstar had owed around 40 million to A.E.G at the time of his death.

According to information from the Jackson Estate itself, and a claim filed earlier this week, Michael Jackson owed 500 million to 65 creditors at the time of his death. Those claims usually resulted in lawsuits, and his debt had been, as stated by the New York Times, “accruing interest at extremely high interest rates.”

Things were going great for Jackson in the 1980s and 1990s. He earned hundreds of millions of dollars from his extremely successful albums. His estate even earned 750 million dollars from Sony/ATV music in 2016.

But Jackson had an extremely lavish lifestyle, and spent money without restraint. His Neverland Ranch estate in Southern California made him millions in debt. The ranch included 2 guest houses, a lake, a 50-seat-movie theater and a Disney themed train station. It cost him 10 million each year to keep up the ranch and all of its amenities.

What’s more, Jackson loved to spend money on all sorts of extravagant things- expensive art, jewelry and private jets. In an auction by the Jackson Estate, the public was able to see the unusual things the famous pop star had spent thousands on. He owned the gloves Johnny Depp’s character wore in “Edward Scissorhands,” which sold for $81,250. He even paid 1.5 million for an Academy Award statue.

One of Jackson’s most famous purchases was a pet chimpanzee, named Bubbles. He bought the monkey from a Hollywood trainer in the late 80s.

All of this spending amounted to an additional 700 millions of debt in taxes and penalties, according to the I.R.S.