Pop star Michael Jackson‘s daughter, Paris Jackson, has won a new legal victory against the executors of her father’s estate—after a judge ordered that they return $625,000 in bonus payments made to third-party law firms in 2018.
Executors John Branca and John McClain, who manage Jackson’s estimated $5 billion estate, will now have to “return” that sum to the singer’s family.
The decision, which was made by a Los Angeles judge in a May 13 motion, was celebrated by Paris, 28, in a statement shared by her attorneys, who hailed the victory as a “massive win” for Jackson’s family.
“[Paris] has always been focused on what’s best for her family and this ruling is a massive win for them,” a spokesperson told People magazine. “After years of delay, the Jackson family will finally get the transparency and accountability measures Paris has fought for.”
The statement went on to accuse Branca of trying to use the Jackson estate as a “slush fund … for his Hollywood fantasies,” while alleging that he had employed “sexist, scorched-earth tactics” against Paris during their legal tussle.
Paris, along with her brothers, Prince, 29, and Bigi, 24, are the primary beneficiaries of Jackson’s estate, which has fluctuated significantly since his death in 2009, when it was estimated to have been worth $2 billion, according to NewsNation. However, the outlet stated that sum had swelled by $3 billion to $5 billion as of 2025.
The executors of Jackson’s estate have made several very lucrative deals to bolster its fortune, including a 2024 agreement with Sony, which bought a 50% stake in the pop star’s music assets for an estimated $600 million.
The estate has also pursued multiple projects using Jackson’s name and likeness, including a Broadway show, “MJ the Musical,” and a newly released biopic, “Michael,” which stars the chart-topper’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, 29, in the titular role.
Jackson’s executors also engineered the sale of the singer’s infamous Neverland Ranch in California, where he had lived for many years up until the months before his death.
Jackson purchased his primary estate, which was built in 1982 and designed by Robert Altevers, in 1987 for $19.5 million. He lived there for over 15 years, steadily transforming the estate into a kind of theme park.
Under Jackson’s ownership, the compound once held as many as 22 structures, including a zoo with exotic animals, amusement park rides, and landscaping that spelled out the word “Neverland,” along with a large clock designed using various shrubs.
The enormous spread is anchored by a 12,598-square-foot, Normandy-style main house with six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, and two half-bathrooms. The first-floor primary suite features a private loft and two bathrooms.
The location is just 5 miles north of the town of Los Olivos, about 50 miles from Santa Barbara. The grounds include a 4-acre lake with a waterfall, mountain views, a barbecue area, pool, pool house, tennis court, and basketball court.
The estate included three guesthouses, a 5,500-square-foot movie theater with a stage, several barns, animal shelter facilities, corrals, and a maintenance shop.
The property was also home to an entire “village” of dwellings used to house the staff required to run the extraordinary abode, the private zoo, and the theme park. Among the rides found on the property were a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, a super slide, and a wave swinger.
Paris, who grew up inside the incredible dwelling alongside her two siblings, has previously opened up about what it was really like to live on such a unique property, revealing that she and her brothers had a much more rigid upbringing than many might have believed.
Rather than allowing his children to run free around the house and its grounds, Jackson would encourage his kids to “earn” privileges, like time on the amusement park rides or movie nights in the home’s private theater.
“We were very privileged growing up, but when it came to things like getting toys and going on the rides, we had to earn that,” she said during a 2021 interview with British publication The Evening Standard. “We were lucky enough to be raised with solid morals. He would be like: ‘Oh, you want to go to Toys ‘R’ Us and get five toys? Great. You need to read five books—and I will test you on those books.'”
Paris added that her father made clear he had not created Neverland for his children to enjoy, but rather for kids who were far less fortunate than them.
“It was very clear to us that those rides and the zoo were for underprivileged children—children who were sick and couldn’t go to Disneyland,” she explained. “If we were good, and we did our homework and we worked hard throughout the week, maybe we could go at the weekends, but we had to earn it.”
However, Jackson’s sister La Toya Jackson stated in her 2011 memoir, “Starting Over,” that her brother had another reason for creating his own theme park—namely the opportunity to enjoy a childhood he never had a chance to experience.
“Neverland was a living fairy tale, which Michael created to finally have a normal childhood and life for himself,” she wrote.
During the two decades that Jackson owned Neverland Ranch, the property became almost as famous as its owner. And, after his death, speculation was rife over what would become of the massive 2,700-acre estate, particularly after its reputation became somewhat clouded by the singer’s personal struggles.
In 2003, Neverland was raided by police as part of an investigation into assault allegations made by a 13-year-old boy, 10 years after Jackson had settled a similar case with the family of a different accuser out of court.
While a jury ultimately cleared the singer of all charges in 2005, the experience was said to have left Jackson with very complex feelings about the home where the nightmare unfolded, and he essentially abandoned the property that same year, moving into a rented mansion in nearby Los Angeles, where he lived until his death.
In 2007, rumors of foreclosure against the estate began circulating, but Jackson’s team remained adamant that it was just a refinancing incident.
However, one year later, the Financial Title Company told Jackson that unless he handed over $24,525,906.61, the home and all of his things inside would go to auction.
In March 2008, Jackson’s attorney, L. Londell McMillan, revealed that they had made a deal with the investment group and the auction would not take place. The details of the deal were never revealed.
Two months later, Colony Capital bought the defaulted loan for $22.5 million.
One month before moving into the home where he would later die, Jackson transferred the title of the home to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC and sold off a portion of his property rights to Colony Capital for $35 million. When he died, the property’s ownership was split between the lender and Jackson’s estate.
Six years after Jackson’s death in 2009, the property was listed for the first time, hitting the market in May 2015 with a sky-high asking price of $100 million. By that point, several major changes had already been made to the estate, including the removal of the amusement park rides, as well as Jackson’s collection of exotic animals.
However, the “Neverland” landscaping and the property’s miniature train station were left intact.
It would take more than five years—and multiple price cuts—before the ranch found a new owner: billionaire investor Ron Burkle, who paid just $22 million for the property at the end of 2020, a far cry from its very lofty $100 million original ask.
Burkle’s purchase of the estate raised fresh questions about its future, particularly after eagle-eyed onlookers noticed that construction had started in and around the property soon after the deal closed—with some suggesting that the Soho House shareholder was planning to turn it into a new branch of the private members’ club.
However, Burkle insisted to the Wall Street Journal that this was not the case, telling the outlet that he was simply hoping to return the dwelling to its former glory.
“It was kind of a depressing place. It wasn’t the beautiful place that it was before. It just needed flowers and life in it again,” he said.
As for the estate’s most infamous former owner and the unsavory accusations that had previously been made against him, Burkle, who served as a financial adviser to Jackson before his death, said that the rumors and speculation did not factor into his decision to buy the home.
“Michael Jackson hasn’t lived there in over 15 years,” he pointed out.
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