Posted on 08/28/2003 7:58:55 AM PDT by bedolido
SINGER Michael Jackson is to open his famous Neverland Ranch in California to 500 paying guests.
The invitation-only event, scheduled for 13 September, will feature dinner, magicians, games and a lorry full of stuffed animals, according to Jackson’s publicist, Stuart Backerman.
Tickets for two people cost £3,000, with £630 from each sale being divided among three charities. The rest, Mr Backerman said, would pay for the costs of the party.
Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, in Santa Barbara County, includes an amusement park with bumper cars, a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel.
Guests also will receive a "goodie bag" worth about £600 and an original painting by the Brazilian artist Romero Britto.
Mr Backerman said 250 tickets will go on sale, potentially worth £750,000. The charitable donation will be split between the Make-A-Wish Foundation for sick children; Oneness, dedicated to erasing racism through art and music; and E Ai Como E Que Fica, a Rio de Janeiro group that provides food, clothing and medical care to impoverished children.
Jackson’s former financial advisers settled a lawsuit against him in June that suggested he was overburdened with debt and near bankruptcy.
Jackson has earned billions of dollars from sales of his own records and his ownership of a prized catalogue of Beatles songs. However, his former business manager, Myung-Ho Lee, made a string of claims that Jackson had squandered most of his fortune with his extravagant spending habits.
OK, I don't think I want it.
Elizabeth Taylor should be able to accomplish that feat all by her ownself...
Billions? I think not. Perhaps he has sold billions, but he certainly hasn't taken home billions.
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