Michael Jackson -- 6 Years After Death ... Estate Generated $2 BILLION

Michael Jackson died 6 years ago today, and TMZ has learned his estate went from the brink of bankruptcy to financial fortune ... and his kids are now better off than their famous dad.

Sources familiar with the financials tell TMZ, the estate has grossed nearly $2 billion since MJ's death. The money comes from the movies "This is It," the Cirque show "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour," 50 million albums sold and various other ventures.

After expenses, that $2 bil gets whittled down to around $800 million -- which is a very good return.

But the $800 mil gets significantly cut by taxes ... we're told to around $450 mil.

MJ's debts at the time of his death were around $500 million, so just on those 2 numbers the estate approaches being in the black.

But there are other ventures, like Sony, where the estate generates a lot of cash.

As for Michael's kids, there's a trust where millions gets distributed as they get older.

Our sources familiar with the financials tell TMZ ... if the estate were completely liquidated today, each kid would get around $100 million.

Not a bad bounce back from the edge of bankruptcy.