Advice from a team in turmoil

Can all the king’s men put Michael Jackson back together again?

Even as the 45-year-old superstar and onetime King of Pop faces charges of child molestation that could land him in prison for more than 20 years, discord has erupted in the ranks of his management team. Sources say the arrival several weeks ago of top Nation of Islam official Leonard Muhammad has touched off a series of internal disputes, leaving a number of close advisors unsure of their future with the star.

But uncertainty has become the standard for Jackson’s management. Since his recording career and public image began declining more than a decade ago, the pop singer has run through a slew of accountants, lawyers and other advisors as he searched for strategists who could return him to his commercial and creative 1980s peak. In his wake, he has left a series of lawsuits and disenchanted associates, while finding his remaining lieutenants paralyzed by infighting.

Jackson “is his own worst enemy,” said one longtime friend who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another Jackson advisor said the singer was “a little paranoid and has a tendency to at some point to turn all the members of his team against each other, to cause chaos. He thinks this way he’ll have more control and he’ll have a better team. Usually it’s a fallacy.”

The parade of advisors to drift in and out of Jackson’s circle in the last decade runs from entertainment veterans (manager Sandy Gallin and business advisor Marshall Gelfand) to more fringe figures (spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller). Many have been terminated by Jackson, but some quit because the singer turned a deaf ear to their advice.

Either way, none has had much success in bolstering his public image or album sales since 1993, when he was sued for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy -- a suit that was settled out of court.

The dispute involving Myung-Ho Lee is emblematic of the Jackson team’s dynamics. His former financial advisor pushed Jackson to invest in fuel-cell technology and other ideas before being fired. In a 2002 lawsuit, he alleged that the star had a weakness for “charlatans and hangers-on who were incapable of improving” his finances. (The singer’s current associates say Lee was the problem.)

Here is a rundown of some of the major players who have served in Jackson’s inner circle. Although a handful of industry veterans has long provided the foundation of his business team, the King of Pop also has crossed paths with, or taken counsel from, a sometimes bizarre entourage of assorted entrepreneurs and others. Some have remained close to Jackson and his family, while others have been forced out.

Center stage

Mark Geragos

The Los Angeles criminal defense attorney hired to defend Jackson against accusations of child molestation has quickly become his most visible spokesman. Geragos, who has been a frequent commentator on “Larry King Live” and other talk shows, was the choice of another Jackson advisor, Ronald Konitzer, among others, sources say. Geragos won an acquittal on obstruction-of-justice charges for Whitewater figure Susan McDougal, but he lost in his defense of now-convicted shoplifter Winona Ryder.

Longtime advisors

John Branca

With a list of clients that includes Jackson as well as more than two dozen other members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Branca ranks as one of the music industry’s most powerful lawyers. He ushered Jackson along his meteoric rise to power in the 1980s, cut the deal for him to buy the lucrative Beatles song catalog and capped it off by helping the star land his landmark 1991 record deal with Sony Music, one of the richest contracts in music history. Branca was pushed out of the Jackson camp before the record deal was finalized, but he was asked back when the star was battling child molestation charges three years later. Branca has had a more limited role ever since, but he continues to represent the star in all music business dealings.

John McClain

A longtime Jackson family friend, McClain is one of the most respected figures in the world of black music. The veteran executive spent the last several years at DreamWorks Records nurturing such acclaimed acts as Floetry, following stints at A&M; Records and Interscope Records. McClain, who jump-started Janet Jackson’s career in the mid-1980s, later helped transform upstart Interscope into a powerhouse by discovering such underground sensations as Dr. Dre and Death Row Records.

Zia Modabber

The hard-nosed business attorney, a partner at Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman, has served as Jackson’s top courthouse pugilist for roughly a decade, defending the pop star in a series of civil cases, such as a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed against Jackson’s production company and last year’s dispute with Lee, his former financial advisor. Modabber began handling Jackson-related cases while working with former partner Howard Weitzman, and took the top job after Weitzman departed to take a job with MCA Inc.

Others

Leonard Muhammad

Son-in-law of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad has taken an increasingly prominent role in Jackson’s circle in recent weeks -- though several insiders deny that he has seized control of Jackson’s affairs. Formerly known as Leonard Searcy, Muhammad helped run a series of Nation-affiliated soap companies that allegedly failed to pay creditors and in some cases, tax authorities, according to several lawsuits and other records.

Dieter Wiesner

The German merchandiser has been one of the superstar’s top advisors for the last two years, but he recently has been forced aside following the arrival of Jackson’s new aides from the Nation of Islam. Wiesner first jumped into the performer’s sphere in the mid-1990s, when he and a team of investors pitched the idea for a Jackson-themed “mystery drink” beverage that was to be marketed during the star’s “HIStory” tour. That idea and a second merchandise deal Wiesner worked on fell apart amid infighting with others in the Jackson camp. Before the recent charges, Wiesner and German technology entrepreneur Ronald Konitzer had been trying to hammer out the details of a new global licensing strategy for Jackson.

Marc Schaffel

Schaffel joined the Jackson circle roughly four years ago after the two reportedly met at a fundraising event. Schaffel, who formerly worked as the producer and director of dozens of gay pornography videos, later was named by the singer to be the executive producer of a planned charity single intended to raise money for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But before Schaffel’s background surfaced publicly, Jackson’s other handlers reportedly tried to sever ties with him and block the release of the recording in order to stave off embarrassment. But Schaffel has remained on Jackson’s team, and last year he aided in two major TV specials, including the Jackson “home movies” program. The charity single was later released for sale on the Internet.

Alvin Malnik

The involvement of the 70-year-old Florida real estate and loan mogul, who insiders say became a financial advisor to Jackson roughly a year ago, has raised eyebrows. New Jersey authorities have long alleged that he was an associate of mob figures Meyer Lansky and Vincent Alo, though he has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Malnik also owns a chain involved in the controversial business of marketing high interest-rate loans. But another source close to the singer contends Malnik has been a “sober” and “intelligent” steward who has helped stabilize Jackson’s finances.

Charles Koppelman

The veteran music publisher and shrewd marketer joined the Jackson team about a year ago, becoming the latest in a parade of executives to guide the singer’s career (in the last 10 years alone, Jackson has run through a Rolodex of artist managers, including Jeff Kwatinetz, Trudy Green and Sandy Gallin). Koppelman, who earned a fortune selling his publishing assets to British music giant EMI Group and later became chairman of the company’s North American division, was fired in a shakeup in 1997. He resurfaced as chairman of shoe designer Steven Madden Ltd. and separately launched a firm that markets loans backed by future music royalties and other such assets. Jackson at one point had been working toward a loan deal with Koppelman, but he later sought financing elsewhere.

Allan Whitman

Whitman and his partners at Bernstein, Fox, Whitman & Co. were hired to handle Jackson’s accounting about a year ago, becoming the latest in a string of business managers to take on the star’s formidable books. The firm has quietly built a client list of wealthy Hollywood actors and producers, and has handled production accounting for series on the ABC and USA networks.

Frank Tyson

The twentysomething Jackson confidant and aide, who was born Frank Cascio, reportedly met the pop star in the early 1990s and has traveled the world with him ever since. One source said Jackson first met Cascio, then about 13 years old, through the boy’s father, Dominic. The elder Cascio reportedly ran a New York hotel once frequented by the star.

Past Advisors

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal

The enormously rich Saudi prince, who has purchased stakes in everything from Apple Computer Inc. to Euro Disney, struck a deal with Jackson in 1996 to create a joint venture, Kingdom Entertainment. But dreams of building hotels, theme parks and producing films and recordings never came true. The prince later cut a deal to invest in and expand Jackson’s Sony-distributed label, MJJ Music, which since has been dissolved. Relations between the prince and the King of Pop reportedly collapsed in the late 1990s as Jackson took on other advisors.

Myung-Ho Lee

Lee, head of a Korean investment firm, became Jackson’s chief financial advisor in 1998 after setting up a Jackson charity concert that ran into trouble. Lee proceeded to set up a series of investments for the star and maneuvered to help secure $200 million in loans from Bank of America. But Jackson’s finances continued to deteriorate, and the star fired Lee in 2001. Lee sued for $12 million in unpaid fees and settled out of court.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

The publicity-savvy speaker and author of such books as “Kosher Sex,” Boteach struck up a friendship with Jackson in 2000, reportedly after the two had been introduced by self-proclaimed “paranormalist” Uri Geller. Boteach helped set up Jackson’s appearance at Oxford in 2001, and the two set up a charity, Heal the Kids, that went nowhere. (The British Charity Commission in the past criticized Boteach’s own nonprofit operation for paying high administrative expenses but relatively low charitable contributions.) Insiders say the two parted ways more than a year ago.