The prosecution’s case against promotion company AEG Live, in which Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine – along with his children Prince, Paris and Blanket – alleges the company is responsible for the megastar’s 2009 death, came to a tearful close Friday.
After other recent testimony revealed the massive haul Michael Jackson would have received from the This Is It tour he was rehearsing for when he died, the family the megastar left behind is now reportedly expecting to receive upwards of $40 billion.
This, according to sources who told the New York Post that Michael Jackson’s sister Rebbie, 63, and brothers Jermaine, 58, and Randy, 51, have been meeting in a secret Beverly Hills location to discuss how they’ll divvy up the huge settlement they expect to get out of the case.
According to the source, excitement amongst the performer family has heightened after an accountant testified for the prosecution last week that Michael Jackson could have easily taken home $1.5 billion from his ill-fated tour.
The Post’s source even claims Janet Jackson, arguably the most successful Jackson after Michael, has been involved in some of the meetings.
“I’m not sure [the family] sees it as counting their chickens before they are hatched,” a family member told The Post.
“Anyone who has followed this trial can easily see AEG is liable. So, it stands to reason that the $1.5 billion . . . would be a starting point.”
A starting point from which, the source said, punitive damages can only go up and up.
“You’re still talking about each getting at least a billion,” the insider claimed.
“A little less if Jackie, Tito, Marlon and Latoya decide they want a piece.”
The Post reports that those three aren’t interested in collecting from the case and say they’re not interested in “blood money”.
Meanwhile, The Post claims Jermaine Jackson already intends to buy the Abu Dhabi theme park Ferrari World and that Randy wants to restore the Neverland Ranch.
“Randy plans to use his share of the money to fight the estate because he’s always been serious about what he feels are Michael’s wishes,” The Post claims.
Katherine Jackson was expected to be the final witness called by her attorneys in the negligence lawsuit against AEG Live that has lasted 12 weeks. The defense case is scheduled to begin next week.
The case surrounds the prosecution’s claim that AEG contributed to Michael Jackson’s death, in part, by hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2011 for his role in the star’s death.
AEG denies it hired the doctor or bears any responsibility for the singer’s death.
Katherine Jackson also said she had heard from her other children that Michael Jackson was abusing prescription medication, but she didn’t know what to believe. She said she visited him in Las Vegas a few years ago to ask him about it.
“He promised, he kept saying, <<I’m OK>>,” Katherine Jackson told the jury.
“Sometimes the mothers are the last to know.”
Katherine Jackson said she told her son: “I don’t want to hear on the news that you’re not here anymore.”
