Michael Jackson could have become a billionaire if he had lived, jurors have been told.
Accounting expert Arthur Erk claimed the £1 billion figure was a conservative estimate of the singer’s future earnings if he had completed the doomed This Is It comeback tour, due to launch at London’s 02 Arena, and had created a Las Vegas show based on his music.
Mr Erk, an expert on music royalties, was testifying at the Los Angeles Superior Court, where Jackson’s mother Katherine and his three children are suing concert promoter AEG Live.
They claim AEG is liable for his death because it failed to properly investigate Dr Conrad Murray, jailed for four years for manslaughter, for giving Jackson an anaesthetic overdose which killed him in 2009 aged 50.
The earnings estimates took into account endorsements and royalties and that Jackson would have completed his 37-month world tour.
Mr Erk’s figures also assumed Jackson would have spent £88.5 million before retiring from showbusiness.
Jackson, who had signed up for 50 shows in London, was also said to have contemplated a Hollywood film career, according to testimony from his nephew Taj Jackson.
AEG denies any liability for Jackson’s death, and the case continues.
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