Most people around the world can easily identify the one-and-only Michael Jackson as the King of Pop who earned a vast fortune from the millions of music albums sold all over the world. But few know that the late music icon’s fortune went way beyond his musical performances and stage talents. What most fans and other people do not know was that he bought The Beatle’s entire music catalog and since then, he has been able to make many millions out of it. How was he able to do this? Let us discover how Jackson was able to transform The Beatles’ music publishing arm, and to add millions of dollars to his wealth.
THE HISTORY
By 1984, John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, as well as Paul McCartney declared that their music catalog, previously owned by them, was available for sale. Again in 1984, Robert Holmes à Court, a popular Australian business tycoon, also announced that he was planning to sell ATV Music Publishing. This was a bombshell as the company had already produced nearly 4,000 songs worldwide, including some of the biggest musical hits from bands like The Beatles. At the time, ATV Music had partnered with Northern Songs, The Beatle‘s music publishing arm, to distribute and produce their music. However, there were no buyers interested in purchasing the catalog as its $40-million price tag was too high for any regular investor, but Court was able to assess the potential in the investment and decided to have it.
THE ACQUISITION
After a few years, Robert Holmes à Court publically revealed his decision to auction off the precious Beatles’ music catalog. When a young music prodigy (who was only 25 years old) called Michael Jackson heard about the intended sale, he showed his keen interest in acquiring the famous band’s songs as he had personally heard McCartney bragging about how he netted a mindboggling $40 million from his royalties. Thereafter, Jackson had saved and investing millions of dollars in acquiring other artists’ publishing rights. Some notable purchases were Sly and The Family Stone’s full catalog, that contain hits like When a Man Loves a Woman, Runaround Sue, Shake, Great Balls of Fire and Rattle and Roll. When Michael’s famous attorney, John Branca, heard about ATV’s intentions, he approached Michael and got him interested. Jackson wasted little time and acquired The Beatles’ publishing rights for the then astounding price of $47.5 million.
THE BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE
After the deal was finalized, Jackson could license or sell the Beatle’s songs, which included their iconic “All You Need Is Love,” Yesterday,” and“Revolution” to any brand he wanted. In 1987, Michael Jackson struck a deal with Nike for an astounding $500,000 to license the song Revolution. Even though the contract annoyed Paul, he was unable to do anything as the King of Pop already owned the specific publishing rights. Since then, Jackson’s estate has made a fortune out of these music catalogs as an irresistible offer was made by Sony’s executives. For an astounding $95 million, Sony offered the King of Pop to merge his ATV Music with Sony, to establish a jointly owned music powerhouse. Jackson thus earned over twice his original investment, but ATV/Sony’s value right now is worth $1 billion! In sprite of his massive wealth, Michael still had debts outstanding due to his high-maintenance lifestyle.
