Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine’s attempt to stop a $600 million deal to sell his songs has failed.
The late King of Pop’s executors – John Branca and AR CEO John McClain – who also manage the family trust, announced plans to sell some of Jackson’s titles to Sony Music Group back in 2022. However, the plan met with resistance from 94-year-old Katherine, who filed a series of objections, insisting that the sale would go against her son’s wishes.
However, an appeals court in Los Angeles has now ruled that the sale can go ahead because Katherine’s objections are “unfounded.”
In documents filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday (8/21/24) and obtained by PEOPLE, the decision states: “The will gave the executors broad powers to sell, with no exceptions for the specific assets at issue in this case.”
“Therefore, the probate court did not err in concluding that it was Michael’s intention to allow the executors to sell all of the estate’s assets, including those at issue in the proposed transaction… all of the estate’s assets will be distributed to the trust.”
The late singer’s millions are managed by the Michael Jackson Family Trust and the beneficiaries are his three children Prince (27), Paris (26) and Bigi (22), also known as Blanket, as well as several charities.
Katherine is the beneficiary of a subtrust that allows the trustees to provide for her “care, support, maintenance, comfort and welfare.”
She had previously claimed that the singer, who died of a drug overdose in 2009 at the age of 50, wanted to keep the assets in the family.
Previously, the “Thriller” star was more than $500 million in debt at the time of his death, according to a report.
Documents obtained by PEOPLE show that Jackson – known for his extravagant spending habits – had hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid debts and was busy writing new songs and preparing for a performance at The 02 in London in an attempt to get his financial problems under control.
