Mark Binelli

And defended himself.

At the same time, Jackson is in a huge financial hole.

He's deeply in debt.

For decades, he continued to spend as if he were the reigning pop star on the planet, even when his reputation got worse and worse and he was no longer touring.

And when he dies, he's close to $500 million in debt.

And I was able to get...

very close look at how this happened in the state of his affairs by a ruling in a tax trial that took place after he died between the estate and the IRS.

The government arguing that the estate owed hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes based on the value of his name and likeness at the time of his death.

And the estate found itself in this sort of perverse position of arguing that no, his name and likeness and future earning potential were close to nil.

because his reputation was so irredeemably degraded.

Literally nil, nothing.

Pretty much.

I mean, you have to remember that the estate is arguing in this case specifically to get the tax burden as low as possible.

So they're making a very extreme argument.

And if you read through the judge's ruling, it's really a fascinating document.

I mean, the first six months of 2009, he died that summer.

The judge found Jackson had only made $24.

Wow.

That's two-four off of his name and likeness.

At the time, he was preparing to return to prison.