Michael Jackson performs with his brothers Dec. 3, 1984, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles as part of their Victory Tour concert.

Los Angeles ? Michael Jackson spent the last years of his life buried in debt. But the King of Pop’s death is likely to yield a financial bonanza more lucrative than any comeback tour ever could, as fans snap up his music and memorabilia and perhaps one day get the chance to tour his Neverland home.

“Quite frankly, he may be worth more dead than alive,” said Jerry Reisman, general counsel for the Hit Factory, a recording studio where Jackson produced his best-selling album “Thriller.”

Jackson’s death at age 50 leaves a multitude of questions about a financial empire that included his own music, as well a 50 percent stake in a library that held the rights to songs by the Beatles. But Jackson reportedly had $400 million in debts, and it isn’t known yet how his estate will be divided and who the beneficiaries will be.

This much is clear: Jackson’s heirs, music labels and opportunists will probably be mining his legacy for decades to come.

In that way, his death may parallel that of the music industry’s original King: Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 at age 42.

Like Jackson, Presley hadn’t had a hit album in years. At the end of his life, he was mostly relying on royalties from his past hits and doing shows in Las Vegas. But in death he became a moneymaking phenomenon.

Presley’s estate was valued at just $4.9 million at the time of his death. In 2005, a company run by media entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman paid $100 million for 85 percent of the estate and a 90-year lease on his Memphis mansion, Graceland.

By some estimates, Jackson’s estate could be worth more than $1 billion. Besides the master recordings of his own music, Jackson owned half of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a jewel estimated to be worth $2 billion by itself. The 750,000-song catalog includes music by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Lady Gaga and the Jonas Brothers.

Creditors will get first crack at the estate.

“I think the first question is, ‘Is there anything left after you pay off the debts?”‘ said Robert Rasmussen, the dean of law at the University of Southern California.

The pop star left behind three children: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11; and Prince Michael II, 7. The elder children were born to ex-wife Deborah Rowe, while the youngest is his biological son, born to a surrogate mother.

Other potential beneficiaries include Jackson’s parents, his five brothers, three sisters and a long list of nieces and nephews. His children’s nanny was believed to be close to Jackson.

The contents of Jackson’s will have not been released. Typically, a will becomes public within about 30 days of a person’s death.

One big question will be what happens to Neverland, where Jackson surrounded himself with animals, rides and children.

Fans, meanwhile, are rushing to buy Jackson’s old songs in a scramble that began within minutes of his death. Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble reported selling out of Jackson’s CDs, and his music accounted for the most downloads at Apple’s iTunes store.

Amazon’s sales of Jackson’s albums and MP3s were 700 times higher on Thursday after news of Jackson’s death, and they were running at an even higher rate Friday, according to Bill Carr, the company’s vice president of music and video.

Sixty percent of Amazon’s CD orders Thursday were for Michael Jackson music, something Carr called “stunning.” He said he’d “never seen anything like this” before at Amazon after the death of a pop culture icon.

As of Friday afternoon, Jackson’s albums accounted for all 10 of Amazon’s “Bestsellers in Music” list, with the 25th anniversary edition of the celebrated “Thriller” album taking the top spot.

Apple Inc. would not describe the level of demand for Jackson’s music at its iTunes online store, but his dominance of iTunes’ top-seller lists Friday speaks for itself.

Around the time of Jackson’s death, only one of his albums ranked in the top 100 on iTunes in the United States. By Friday morning, eight of the top 10 albums were Jackson’s.