The meltdown resulted in the collapse of several large banking and financial institutions in the United States and Europe due to weakness originating from the mortgage and mortgage backed securities markets.

However in Asia, many were not too worried about the property market due to the regulated control of the banking system by their country National Bank and the well-established and matured property developers.

As a result of planned developments and sale of property, the Asian property market has remained healthy, despite the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction of 6.2 % in the first quarter of 2009.

As an indication of the strength of the property sector, the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) recorded higher transaction volume of some 4.0% compared with a decline of 17.8 percent in 4th quarter of 2008.

In its study, NAPIC also recorded 79,149 transactions valued at USD 4.701 billion in 1H 2009 with the Residential property sub-sector being the most dominant. Total transaction volumes were 63.8% while total transaction value was 55.1%.

The development of residential property remained promising with upward trends in the completion and starts category but dwindling numbers in new building plan approvals.

Currently, by 1H 2009, the residential property sector recorded an existing supply of 4,230,328 units with and incoming supply of 544,926 units. Planned residential supply is recorded at 669,554 units.

In the demand scenario for the residential sales performances there were lesser units that were launched into the market in the past quarters. However, sales performances during the nine months were between 70% and 85% since the first quarter of 2007.

There were also signs that the Asian property market was affected by global economic and financial crisis but the market has remained healthy overall.

What came as a surprise was the speed that the estate administration process kicked into motion. Here is the brief timeline: MJ passed away on 25 June and the first series of court hearings began four days later. On 1 July, MJ’s Will dated 7 July 2002 was filed with Los Angeles County Superior Court, which became a public document and almost instantly became of public interest. All these took place even before the memorial arrangements were finalized.

In summary, MJ, in his five-paged Will appointed three of his close aides to be his executors; his mother to be the first named guardian and failing which his close friend, singer Diana Ross, would be the substitute guardian. The Will also make mention of a living trust which he created prior to the Will which is known as Michael Jackson Family Trust (“MJFT”) whereby his mother, children and certain charities are the named beneficiaries. Pursuant to the Will, the executors will ultimately “shepherd” all the assets in the estate into. The MJFT, which details are of course, key private and confidential inheritance taxes are still in many countries and this often is the paramount reason why people consider creating trust(s) in addition to a Will.

For MJ’s case, his estate would be looking at Federal Inheritance Tax that could possibly be as high as 45% in addition to the probate fees (to be based on the gross value of the estate) which is value of the estate) which is also applicable in the state of California. Fortunately, neither of such taxes is applicable in Malaysia.

It seems that MJ was well advised in terms of his estate affairs. However many are skeptical of his actual net worth bearing in mind he has been entangled with numerous lawsuits in the past which was later settled out of court with massive sums being paid out as settlement. At the time of his death, it was reported that he has an existing USD300 million loan with Barclays Bank. No doubt, many observers belief that he may be heavily in debt but he certainly is not broke. It is estimated that his interests in Sony / ATV alone is worth approximately USD 1 billion on top of royalties which will be channeled into his estate or trust (which is yet to be determined) is also extremely significant.

The executors would now have to determine what are the assets belonging to the estate. There could be a possibility that the aforementioned valuable assets might have been settled into or assigned to the MJFT which means that there is a possibility that the estate’s assets are significantly less as compared to the existing debts in such circumstance. If the estate has insufficient assets to settle all the debts, the estate would be technically insolvent. In all likelihood when this happens, the creditors would embark on a hunting spree to claw back as many assets as possible. This would possibly include tracing the assets that was previously settled or assigned into the MJFT and if this materializes, the assets held by the MJFT may be vulnerable.

Translating the above into Malaysian context, the fundamental principles of estate planning are very much similar. Generally, a Will is where a testator bequeaths his/her assets to the selected beneficiaries, appoints guardian(s) for his/her minor children and appoints person(s) whom he/she trusts to be the executor(s) of the estate. The testator may also make provisions for testamentary trust(s) if certain assets are to be held on trust for a period of time, in accordance to the testator’s instructions. However, one need to be mindful that all debts and liabilities would have to be settled by the estate before any bequeaths can be fulfilled. In addition, a Will also becomes a public document the moment it is filed in the court for the application of probate. Therefore, if there are certain assets, which are to, given to selected individuals who details are to remain private, living trusts would be the available option to establish such arrangements.

Occupation      : Co-founder and CEO, Oracle Corporation

Salary              : $500.0 million USD (2008)

Net Worth       : Below $22.5 billion USD (2009)

Spouse(s)         : Adda Quinn (m. 1967–1974), Nancy Wheeler Jenkins (m. 1977–1978), Barbara Boothe (m. 1983–1986), Melanie Craft (m. 2003–present)

Oracle Corporation, one of the major companies developing database management systems (DBMS), tools for database development and enterprise resource planning software from 1977 and has offices in more than 145 countries around the world. As of 2005, it employs more than 50,000 persons worldwide. An oracle database, strictly speaking, consists of a collection of data managed by an Oracle database management system. The distinction between the managed data (the database) and the software which manages the data relies, in Oracle’s marketing literature, on the capitalization of the world database. Oracle Corporation produces and markets the DBMS, which many database applications use extensively on many popular computing platforms.

Larry Ellison was born in Bronx, New York. At nine months, he contracted pneumonia, and his unmarried 19 year-old mother gave him to her great aunt and uncle to raise the child. He was raised in a two-bed room apartment, and until he was twelve years old he did not know that he was adopted. As a boy, Larry Ellison showed an independent, rebellious attitude and often clashed with his adoptive father. He showed a strong aptitude for math and science, and was named student of the year at the University of Illinois. But during the final exams in his second year, Ellison’s adoptive mother died, and he dropped out of school. However, he enrolled at the University of Chicago the following year, dropped out again after the first semester. His father was now convinced that Ellison would never make anything of himself. But Ellison was very fond of and had learned the basics of computer programming in Chicago and took his skill with him to California, having just enough money for fast food.

For the next eight years, he bounced from job to job. When he was working as a programmer for a company called Ampex, he built a large database for the CIA with a code name, Oracle. (Generally, Oracle means a person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic vision). In 1977, Ellison and his former supervisor from Ampex, Robert Miner, founded Software Development Labs, and created a database program compatible with both mainframe and desktop computer systems. Their first customers were Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the CIA. In 1980, Oracle had only eight employees, and revenues were less than $1 million, but the following year, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation is the largest information technology company with a continuous success dating back to 1911) itself adopted Oracle’s SQL (Structured Query Language) for its mainframe systems and for the next seven years, Oracle’s sales doubled every year. The million dollar company was becoming a billion dollar company.

Oracle went public in 1986, raising $31.5 million with its initial public offering, but the firm’s zealous young staff for the rapidly expanding firm habitually overstated revenues, and in 1990 the company posted its first losses. Oracle’s market capitalization fell by 80 percent and the company appeared to be on the verge of bankruptcy. Ellison bit the bullet and replaced much of the original senior staff with more experienced managers. For the first time, he delegated the management side of the business to professionals, and channeled his own energies into product development. The newest version of the database program was a solid success and in only two years the company’s stock had regained much of its previous value.

Oracle’s fortunes continued to rise throughout the 1990s. America’s banks, airlines, automobile companies and retail giants all depend on Oracle’s database programs. Oracle has benefited hugely from the growth of electronic commerce; its net profits increased by 76 percent in a single quarter of the year 2000. As the stocks of other high tech companies fluctuated wildly, Oracle held its value, and its largest shareholder, Ellison, had come very close to a long-cherished goal: surpassing Microsoft’s Bill Gates to become the richest man in the world.

Larry Ellison is far from the run-of-the-mill businessman. Oracle today is the world’s leading supplier of software for information management and the world’s second largest independent software company, boasting revenues of more than $9.7 billion. Ellison is also known as the Other Software Billionaire.

Ellison is a living proof that business is not something learned through academic books, but rather an innate gift. A college dropout, Ellison is renowned for his impeccable business sense, drive and ambition. It is no surprise that in order to achieve Ellison’s success, one must take huge risks and learn from mistakes made along the way. Ellison also demanded at least 100 percent growth in sales of his company’s software, a near impossible feat for a company that already boasts $100 to $500 million in sales. Although Ellison’s high demands led to a highly stressful work environment, it also led to high productivity and Oracle’s present success.

Oracle underwent some changes before becoming the multibillion-dollar corporation it is today. When first founded by Ellison, it was known as Software Development Laboratories and then reincarnated into Relational Technologies until it finally took on the name it is known as today; Oracle, Larry Ellison presently sits on the board of Apple Computer (a company he once dreamed of taking over) and the many honors and awards he received include Entrepreneur of the Year from the Harvard School of Business.

Being a billionaire, Ellison is also believed to be quite a multi-faceted character: playboy, world champion sailboat racer, sports nut, jet pilot, ruthless businessman, marketing genius, and avant-garde thinker. We weren’t kidding when we said he is no ordinary businessman.