For sale: private fantasyland of global megastar turned reclusive weirdo. Sprawling 2,800-acre grounds include “artistic” statues of nude children, waxworks of old men handing out toffees, a miniature steam train and generous accommodation for elephants. Ferris wheel included (might need oiling).

Asking price? Well, if you have to ask . . .

So might read the listing for Michael Jackson’s abandoned Neverland ranch, which is to be put up for public auction on March 19 if the singer fails to clear a $25 million (£12.5 million) loan on the property, located near the town of Los Olivos, two hours north of Los Angeles by car.

The public auction of Neverland suggests that Jackson has squandered one of the most remarkable fortunes ever amassed by a popular musician – a fortune that by some estimates has totalled more than $1 billion during a 42-year career.

Research suggests that Jackson’s songs have generated $300 million in royalties since the early 1980s, with a further $400 million coming from concerts, publishing, endorsements, merchandising and music videos. His 50 per cent stake in the Sony-ATV music catalogue is thought to be worth $500 million, more than ten times what he paid for it in 1985 – even after cash-ing-in $100 million of the investment in 1995.

The scale of Jackson’s financial problems emerged during his 2005 child abuse trial – he was acquitted on all counts – when it was reported that he had secured more than $270 million of loans against his stake in Sony-ATV, which controls the Beatles’ back catalogue, along with copyrights by the Spice Girls, Kylie Minogue and other artists. The monthly payments on these loans were said to be $4.5 million, which meant that Jackson was being charged a credit card-like interest rate of 20 per cent. Two years ago the singer managed to refinance the loans with Fortress Investments, a company that specialises in “distressed” debts, and he is now thought to owe $325 million at a rate of 6 per cent, on which the $5 million payment is now overdue.

The $25 million loan on Neverland, also held by Fortress, is thought to be in addition to this. As part of Jackson’s refinancing, Sony secured the right to buy half of Jackson’s stake in Sony-ATV if he ever defaulted on his debts.

Jackson, 49, has not lived at Neverland since it was raided by the police before his 2005 trial. After he was acquitted, he moved to the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain, but that proved to cause only more problems. He is now being sued by Prince Abd-ullah of Bahrain for allegedly reneging on a deal to make a record and produce a Broadway show for him.

Meanwhile, Jackson has recently lost lawsuits filed against him by his former lawyers and a former business associate over nearly $1 million of alleged unpaid bills. He also settled a lawsuit with his former financial advisers over a $48 million payment that was allegedly owed for refinancing.

“It’s the entertainment world, full of thieves and crooks,” said Jackson, in a deposition. “Everybody knows that.” None of this bodes well for Jackson’s reported plans to sign a $30 million deal to perform 30 shows at the O2 arena in Greenwich, southeast London.

While Jackson was in Bahrain, the authorities in Santa Barbara ordered Neverland to be closed down after the singer failed to pay his employees or keep up with his insurance payments. The zoo is now empty and many of the fairground rides have been shut down or sold off.

All of which raises the question: how on earth did Jackson manage to burn through $1 billion? “I think that Michael never had any concept of fiscal responsibility,” Alvin Malnik, a former adviser to the singer, said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “If you want to take a trip to London, that’s one thing. If you want to continue that trip and have your entourage of 15 to 20 people go with you, it gets expensive.”

After the singer bought Neverland for $17 million, he started to spend upwards of $1 million on promotional music videos, and infamously tried to buy the bones of Joseph Merrick, the “Elephant Man”, for $1 million. Then came the reported $20 million child abuse settlement, the divorce settlement with Lisa Marie Presley, the growing entourage and the private jet charters – all of which coincided with the precipitous decline of CD sales and Jackson’s semi-retirement.

When it was a thriller

— Jackson started building Neverland in 1988, when riding high on the success of the albums Thriller and Bad

— At its peak, the ranch employed 160 people and had a zoo with giraffes, orangutans, tigers and reptiles

— Invited guests could entertain themselves on 16 amusement park rides, a miniature train and at the Michael Jackson museum

— The mansion had an arcade and a doll room

— The annual upkeep was an estimated $4 million (£2 million)

— In 1991 Elizabeth Taylor married her seventh husband, Larry Fortensky, in the grounds

— During the 2005 sex abuse trial, scores of wellwishers camped outside and when Jackson was acquitted hundreds more descended to celebrate

— The animals have all been relocated to neighbouring zoos

Source: E! Entertainment News, The New York Times, USA Today

Big spenders

— William Randolph Hearst, who inspired Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, had a fortune that exceeded $100 million. He spent $37 million on San Simeon, a 165-room fantasy castle that boasted the world’s largest private zoo

— Mike Tyson, according to some estimates, made and lost $400 million during a career in which, at its peak, he could command $30 million for a single fight

— “Spend, spend spend!" was 1961 pools winner Vivian Nicholson's answer to reporters who asked what she would do with her £152,000 winnings. Before long all the money was gone, and she was forced to earn money singing Big Spender at a strip club

— George Best, when questioned in later life about how he spent his salary, replied: “I spent 90 per cent of my money on women, drink and fast cars. The rest I wasted”

Sources: NY Times, LA Times, agencies, notablebiographies.com

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