Estimated to raise bids of somewhere between $200,000 to $400,000, the red-and-black jacket that Jackson wore during his "Thriller" video sold for a whopping $1.8 million this weekend at Julien's auction in Beverly Hills. Items also up for auction included memorabilia from Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Frank Sinatra, but MJ's jacket far and away went for the highest price…
Jackson signed the jacket as a gift to his longtime costume designers, Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush before his death in 2009. Milton Verret, a businessman from Austin, Texas, was the big spender who won the historic piece of pop history. He plans to take it on a tour of children's hospitals across the country.
Part of the proceeds from the purchase will go toward the Shambala Preserve, home to Jackson's two Bengal tigers, Thriller and Sabu. Other memorabilia from the King of Pop that was auctioned off included the fedora from his Bad Tour, a handwritten note to Elizabeth Taylor and a signed pillowcase.
The Beatles also fetched some high bids, including Paul McCartney's bass guitar ($14,080), and the cape Ringo Starr wore in the movie Help! ($37,500). Sinatra's 1986 Jaguar went to a lucky bidder for the price of $19,000.
