John McClain, Co-Executor of Michael Jackson's Estate, Dead at 71

John

McClain, the veteran music executive and co-executor for Michael Jackson’s estate since he died in 2009, passed away on May 26 at the age of 71. He died due to a notable illness for some time now. McClain’s death made headlines for one of the most-watched and contested estates in entertainment history. With his death rose the question about the estate’s future leadership and ongoing legal battles surrounding the estate involving the executors, John McClain and John Branca. People also were curious about what will happen to the estate now?

Who Was John McClain?

McClain began his career at the age of 16 as a musical director for The Sylvers. Having learned Berry Gordy’s artist development formula from one of his high school classmates, Jermaine Jackson helped him get his career started at 16. McClain rose through the ranks of Artist & Repertoire (A&R) at the then-famous A&M Records, where he becameJanet Jackson’s manager. He then brought in famous producers like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Janet’s landmark album Control (1986), a career-defining record for Janet and a reputation builder for McClain. Later, he moved to Interscope Records, signed Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch, and brokered a distribution deal with Death Row Records. Across his decade-long career, he was associated with blockbuster records of Janet Jackson, Dr Dre, God’s Property and Teddy Riley; these blockbusters collectively made 50 million copies worldwide.

On July 6, 2009, McClain was named alongside entertainment attorney John Branca in Michael Jackson’s 2002 will as estate co-executor by a Los Angeles judge. Together, the two supervised the posthumous releases of Michael Jackson, including albums like Michael and Xscape, with tracks like Love Never Felt So Good and This Is It featured in the album. They grew Michael’s estate to over $3 billion through their own account. However, later, Paris Jackson, Michael’s second child and only daughter, accused both the executors of excessive self-compensation and leaving $464 million of virtual estate funds uninvested. In November 2025, she filed a fresh objection against Branca and McClain, alleging that the two have drawn over $148 million in compensation. Countering this allegation, the executors said that Paris herself has received over $65 million in payouts from the estate.

What Happens To The Estate Now?

With the death of John McClain, John Branca is now the sole executor for Michael’s estate.

As the biopic of Michael Jackson, which was produced by both executors, is already facing legal hurdles over a scene involving one of Jackson’s sexual abuse accusers. Meanwhile, due to a legal agreement its stated to rewrite and shoot a large part of the film, leaving Branca alone to handle all the legal and creative chaos.