MJ 'would have earned $1.5 b on comeback tour'

Michael Jackson would have been able to earn 1.5 billion dollars if he would have performed at 'This Is It' tour and created a Las Vegas show before his death based on his music, an accounting expert said.

Arthur Erk, a public accountant who conducts royalty audits for musicians, told jurors that the King of Pop would have earned that much from the shows if he would have hiked up the charge for later shows on the 'This Is It' tour, the New York Daily News reported.

According to Erk, he had just used conservative estimates to figure Jackson's earning potential if he had lived for several more years.

The estimates also accounted for endorsements and royalties that Jackson could have earned and are heavily dependent on the idea that Jackson would have performed a 37-month world tour.

The figures also took into account about 134 million dollars that Jackson would have spent before retiring from show business at age 65.

Jackson signed on for only 50 shows in London, however, contracts indicated that longer tour was a possibility.