Michael Jackson's estate is reportedly closing in on a deal to sell 50 per cent of the late King of Pop's entire music catalogue for $800 to $900 million.
Michael Jackson's estate has made millions from sales of publishing rights in the past
Sony Music - Michael's label for the entirety of his solo career - is said to be nearing completion of the landmark purchase, multiple sources have told Variety.
As well as owning publishing and recorded music revenues, the deal also includes the 'MJ: The Musical' Broadway show and the upcoming biopic 'Michael' and more.
Sony might have a financial partner involved to seal the deal on the biggest sale in music history.
For instance, the sale of Bruce Springsteen's catalogue for an estimated $600 million saw Sony partner with Eldridge Industries.
A source also told the outlet that Primary Wave Music already has a stake in the 'Billie Jean' hitmaker's publishing catalogue.
The co-executors of Michael's estate are his former attorney John Branca and John McClain.
In 2016, Sony Corporation paid the estate $750 million for his 50 per cent stake in Sony/ATV music publishing.
And in 2018, it was reported that Sony acquired the estate's 25.1 per cent stake in EMI Music Publishing for $287.5 million.
Sir Paul McCartney, 80, once advised Michael - who died aged 50 in 2009 - to make sure he owned the publishing rights to his songs.
And he went a step further and beat the former Beatle in a bidding war to own the publishing rights to most of The Beatles’ catalogue for $47 million.
Meanwhile, in November, the pop icon's estate was seeking to recover over $1 million of stolen property.
Lawyers for his estate previously alleged Jeffre Phillips - who got engaged to Michael's sister LaToya Jackson in 2013, only for them to call things off two years later - took advantage of the chaos surrounding his passing to take valuables from the star's Carolwood estate home.
After stopping a potential sale, they filed legal documents asking a judge to help recover all the items, which include DVDs of unreleased concert footage, laptops and hard drives.
The estate claimed to know where all the items are but required assistance to get them back.
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