AEG offered Michael Jackson estate $60 million for Las Vegas show

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Michael Jackson fans from left, Karlene Taylor, Yvonne Francis, Latrenda White and Jamie Lee, speak out against AEG Live. A jury found Wednesday that AEG Live was not liable in the death of the pop superstar. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jury foreman Gregg Barden, center, listens to a reporter’s question about their verdict in the civil trial over the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson and three grandchildren against AEG Live in the death of singer Michael Jackson. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos gathers the verdict documents moments before they were publicly disclosed. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Attorneys for Katherine Jackson, Deborah Chang, left and Kevin Boyle listen as jurors are polled following the verdict in the civil trial that lasted for five months. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam smiles during verdict polling at the conclusion of the Katherine Jackson v. AEG Live civil trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The jury found AEG not liable in Michael Jackson’s death. AEG attorney Jessica Stebbins Bina is at left. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, left, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, speaks with Kathryn Cahan and Marvin Putnam, attorneys with AEG Live LLC ,in Los Angeles County Superior Court in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Bailiffs are sworn in to protect the jury as Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, waits during the trial in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. The singer’s family has sued the entertainment firm AEG Live LLC, saying the company negligently hired and supervised Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered the dose of propofol that killed the singer. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, an attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in a packed courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 24. The promoters of Michael Jackson’s last tour were “so excited” about making huge profits that they hired an unfit doctor to care for the star, his family’s lawyer said. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Marvin Putnam, lead attorney for AEG Live LLC and co-counsel Jessica Stebbins-Bina, listen to closing arguments by Michael Jackson family’s attorney, Brian Panish, in a packed courtroom Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live LLC on Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam gives closing arguments in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 25. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos listens to a rebuttal argument in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 26. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson’s former wife and mother of two of his children, leaves Los Angeles County Superior Court after testifying at the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against AEG Live. (Nick Ut / Associated Press)

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Television crews report live outside Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles on the first day of the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit. (Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images)

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In this file photo dated Sept. 27, 2011, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson arrives outside Los Angeles County Superior Court to hear opening statement in the involuntary manslaughter trial of pop superstar Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Murray was convicted and sentenced to prison. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

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Singer Janet Jackson, left, Paris Katherine Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II and LaToya Jackson are seen on stage during the memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

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Entertainer Michael Jackson announces on March 5, 2009, that he will play a series of comeback concerts at the London O2 Arena in July. Jackson died before the concerts could be held. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press)

By Jeff Gottlieb

July 23, 2013 1:21 PM PT

An AEG Live executive testified Tuesday that the firm offered Michael Jackson’s estate a guarantee of $60 million over 10 years in a deal that included a Las Vegas theatrical show based on the pop star’s songs.

John Meglen said the proposal included a “Michael Jackson campus” at the Planet Hollywood Hotel that would have included the singer’s artifacts, two restaurants, a nightclub and stores to sell merchandise.

The show would have been directed by Kenny Ortega, the director of the ill-fated “This Is It” 50-concert comeback tour Jackson was preparing when he died in 2009.

FULL COVERAGE: AEG wrongful-death trial

The AEG executive testified his company would have paid an additional $40 million to create the show.

“The $40 million gets you to opening night,” he said.

Meglen, dressed in a dark blue suit and a white shirt open at the collar, said this would have been AEG’s first shot at creating what he called a “conceptual show,” rather than one where a live performer is the main attraction.

Conceptual shows, he said, are riskier.

“With the headliner, you have a certain track record of how many tickets they’re going to sell … but if you do a show based on Elton’s music or Celine’s music, it depends on how good the show is, I guess,” said Meglen referring to Elton John and Celine Dion, singers who have done extended runs at Las Vegas hotels.

Meglen said that hearing that Cirque du Soleil was talking to the Jackson estate is what led AEG to make its pitch.

He said they had a meeting with the estate’s co-executor, John Branca, in his conference room. Meglen said AEG did a “B-minus, C-plus pitch. In my opinion, they were already down the road and they wanted to do the show with Cirque.”

The Circue du Soleil tribute to Jackson is playing at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, with shows scheduled to open soon in China, Australia and New Zealand.

Meglen said AEG never made Jackson an offer for a conceptual show while he was alive.

“We thought if we could create the show with Michael’s catalog that that could be very successful, but it’s risky,” Meglen said.

The court is hearing the wrongful death case filed by Jackson’s mother and three children against AEG Live.

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