Jackson Estate Co-Executors Receive 10 Percent Cut of Profits

The two men named as co-executors of Michael Jackson's estate, John Branca and John McClain, will receive a 10 percent cut of all profits they make for the King of Pop's estate, a judge ruled yesterday in Los Angeles. According to the AP, both Branca and McClain will receive five percent of the profits, however they won't get any compensation from the This Is It concert rehearsal film or any payment from Jackson's stake in the Sony/ATV catalog.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, the Jackson family initially opposed Branca and McClain's control over Michael's estate, but lawyers for the family made no objections in court yesterday when the judge revealed the 10 percent cut. "I think that this is very reasonable," Katherine Jackson's lawyer Adam Streisand said. "There is an incentive for the executors to grow the business and that will, of course, affect their compensation." A lawyer for Branca and McClain said the pair will be "fairly compensated," but will still receive less money than the "guideline amounts for administering Jackson's estate," which is worth an estimated $500 million.

Look back at Michael Jackson's life and career in photos.

Branca and McClain are credited with earning over $100 million for the Jackson estate since the King of Pop's death on June 25th, 2009, the majority of it coming from the This Is It deal. The film went on to gross over $250 million in its limited theatrical run, and was just released to DVD last week. "Unlike the typical estate, the operation of Michael Jackson's estate is more akin to the operation of a multimillion dollar business enterprise," the pair's attorney said in court late last year when lobbying that Branca and McClain be compensated for their work.

Related Stories:
• Michael Jackson Estate's Co-Executors Seek Payment
• Katherine Jackson Hires New Lawyer for Battle Over Estate
• Michael Jackson Funeral Cost $1 Million; Objections Against Estate Executors Dropped

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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