Three Agreements between Michael Jackson and Tohme
paula-c
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Forget the personal comments of the author of the blog and other people, is published to way of information.<br /><br /><br />Three Agreements between Michael Jackson and Tohme<br /><br /><br /><br />Just about a year ago, both the Estate of Michael Jackson and Tohme Tohme filed lawsuits against each other. As the lawsuits near trial, it's important that all Michael Jackson fans, and those interested in the lawsuit, understand three key components to the Estate's claims against Tohme. There are three main claims; the Finder's Agreement, the Services Agreement and the Indemnity Agreement. So let's take a look at what the Estate claims on each one of these agreements between Michael Jackson and Tohme. You can read the court documents for yourself, here. <br /><br />Finder's Agreement<br /><br />1. In early 2008, Jackson started looking for someone to refinance the loan on Neverland Ranch. While acting as a consultant for Colony Capital AND as Jackson's business advisor, Tohme and Jackson entered an agreement in which Tohme would receive a 10% finder's fee for locating a company to refinance Neverland. In addition, the agreement stated that Jackson would pay 10% of the gross proceeds to Tohme if Jackson sold any interest in Neverland. Lastly, the agreement stated that Tohme would receive 10% of any future profit through any transaction brought to Michael by Colony Capital. The Estate's claim states "the services Tohme performed for this excessive compensation were simply to introduce Jackson to Colony." <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The Estate also claims that "the final terms imposed on Jackson contained newly created restraints in connection with Jackson's use and control of the Ranch, along with financial terms disproportionately favorable to Colony and inferior to those Jackson would have been able to obtain had he been represented in negotiations at the outside by an independent advisor without any financial interest in the transaction." The Estate claims that by being a consultant to Colony Capital, while simultaneously representing Jackson as a business advisor AND in agreement with Jackson for a finder's fee, this is a conflict of interest, and therefore should be found legally void. The Estate also claims that there were other options that were open to Jackson regarding the refinancing of Neverland, yet Tohme utilized his connections with Colony Capital to gain his finder's fee.<br /><br />2. Services Agreement<br /><br />Jackson and Tohme entered into a Services Agreement on July 2, 2008. The terms of the services agreement stated that Tohme was guaranteed to be paid $35,000 a month, plus expenses regardless of whether Michael made money or not. In addition, Tohme would receive "15% of all gross compensation received by (Jackson) including live performances, merchandising, electronic arts, recorded and live telecasts, motion pictures and animated projects." The Estate claims this agreement far exceeds the normal and customary fees charged by a business advisor.<br /><br />3. Indemnity Agreement<br /><br />The Estate also claims that Michael signed 2 power of attorney documents to Tohme in August 2008, which were, like the finder's agreement and the services agreement, disporportitionately favorable to Tohme and inferior to Jackson. The Estate also claims that Tohme had Jackson sign an indemnity agreement on August 6,2008, which gave Tohme broad indemnities which were beyond customary. <br /><br />The Estate gives the example of Tohme giving Michael's artwork to Brett Livingstone Strong as an example. "Tohme asserts that he had the power to make the gifts pursuant to the Power of Attorney that were allegedly executed by Jackson." The Estate claims Tohme has no Power of Attorney to give gifts of Michael's property to third parties, and that the Estate owns all of Jackson's property, not Tohme. <br /><br />Other Claims<br /><br />1. The Estate claims that within the AEG agreement for the This Is It (TII) tour and concerts, Tohme is given, on top of the services agreement fee, $100,000 a month. This fee is advanced to Tohme by AEG, but would have been recouped by Jackson had he lived. <br /><br />2. The Estate claims that Tohme is still in possession of Jackson's money and property. The estate claims not only does Tohme have some of Jackson's money ("in the millions"), but that Tohme comingled Jackson's money with his own. The Estate also claims that Tohme is still in possession of Jackson's property; and that he may have disposed of some of the property (like Michael's artwork) without having the authority to do so. <br /><br />So if we look at Tohme's compensation agreements prior to Michael's death, here's what we have:<br /><br />Finder's Fee: 10% profit of the sale of Neverland<br /> 10% of gross proceeds if MJ ever sold any interest in Neverland<br /> 10% of any profit MJ earned through Colony Capital<br />Services Fee: $35,000 per month<br /> All expenses paid<br /> 15% compensation for any work done by MJ<br />Power of Attorney: Power to do what he pleased with regard to Michael's work<br /> or property<br />AEG Agreement: $100,000 per month<br /><br />This is, like the Estate has claimed, extraordinarly outrageous and not the customary fee. The Estate claims that because there was no independent counsel involved in any of these agreements, that they should be declared null and void, and that Tohme should in some instances, pay back double what the Estate has lost. <br /><br />http://mjandjustice4some.blogspot.com.br/2013/02/three-agreements-between-michael.html
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