Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Editor's Picks
Editor's PicksList

5 Black Celebrities Who Died Without Leaving a Will

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: | Updated on July 17, 2014 CommentsComments (3)

bob marley

Bob Marley

When Bob Marley died in 1981, he was said to be worth about $30 million.  The reggae megastar never made a will, even though he knew he had terminal cancer for at least a year before his death.

According to Forbes,  after Marley’s death, a pair of close advisers — his attorney and his accountant — decided to help craft an estate plan. Instead of allowing the assets to be settled under Jamaican law, the duo convinced Marley’s widow, Rita, to forge his name to a series of documents, and predate them to before he died. This was done to transfer to Rita Marley the control of the majority of  her husband’s corporate holdings, along with much of his royalty rights and money, Forbes reported.

Rita Marley eventually confessed to the scheme and said she merely acted on the attorney’s advice. She was removed from control of the estate as one of the administrators, and Marley’s children received the rights to profit from the estate.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top