AEG attacks projection of $1B earnings for Jackson

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An expert who projected Michael Jackson could have earned more than $1 billion on his comeback concerts testified Tuesday that his analysis didn't include a breakdown of the singer's yearly earnings over his lifetime and projected a longer concert tour than the superstar had ever performed.

Arthur Erk, a certified public accountant who is an expert in musician's royalties, said his analysis didn't take into account thousands of pages of figures detailing Jackson's spending over the years.

His projection that Jackson would have earned between $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion if he performed a 37-month, 260-show tour and crafted a Las Vegas show came under attack Tuesday by a lawyer for concert promoter AEG Live LLC. He said his figures were a conservative estimate of Jackson's earning potential if he had lived.

Erk is testifying for Jackson's mother in her lawsuit against AEG Live, claiming the company is liable for her son's death because it failed to properly investigate the doctor who administered a fatal overdose of an anesthetic propofol in June 2009. At the time of his death, Jackson was preparing for 50 comeback concerts in London called "This Is It," but there was the possibility the singer would have embarked on a worldwide tour.

The accountant based his calculations on documents prepared by AEG, but on cross-examination conceded that the company never projected the singer would earn more than $1 billion after the "This Is It" shows opened. He said he didn't have information regarding Jackson's earnings over his lifetime.

Erk's estimate contemplated Jackson receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in merchandise, endorsement deals and royalties from a Las Vegas show based on his music and archival footage.

AEG Live attorney Sabrina Strong showed Erk a chart that showed that Jackson's three previous solo tours comprised 275 shows over a 10-year span. She challenged Erk's contention that he was being conservative by projecting Jackson would have performed 260 shows over a three-year period.

Strong also attacked Erk's calculation that Jackson would have spent $134 million between ages 50 and 65. She cited testimony from Jackson's former business managers and accountants in depositions that Jackson was historically outspending his earnings by millions of dollars each year. She questioned why Erk and associates who helped him compile his analysis didn't review tens of thousands of pages that detailed Jackson's spending over the years.

Erk said that wasn't part of his job as a hired expert and he relied on figures about Jackson's monthly spending prepared by the singer's accountant before his death.

"We boiled down what we thought was necessary to do the calculations," Erk said.

Jackson died an estimated $400 million in debt.

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP