Detroit Channel Four News has just reported that MJ will have to pay $270 million to the bank by tomorrow or he will lose his rights to his music holdings and Neverland Ranch to foreclosure.

Wouldn't MJ decide which assets get liquidated?

CinisterCee said:

Not if the ranch is the collateral.

He may be able to negotiate in some cases I would guess, but according to previous posts here he used these as collateral for money borrowed and the bank probably can't wait to get their hands on them.

dayum...


question: does he still, or ever owned the Beatles catalogue/rights or something like that? if so, is that what he'll be giving up?

CHIC0 said:

I was just wondering that too Chico. Maybe CNN has more information ~ I'll take a walk over and see what I can find.

By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lawyers for Michael Jackson and a key creditor are in talks to keep the pop star from defaulting on $200 million in loans secured by his prized stake in the Beatles' song catalog, an attorney for the singer said on Monday.

A default on the loans, which come due on Tuesday and are held by the Fortress Investment Group would allow the New York private equity fund to seize Jackson's 50-percent interest in Beatles publishing rights valued at some $500 million.

The catalog, containing more than 200 Beatles tunes that include such classics as "Yesterday," is jointly owned by Jackson and Sony Corp. through Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

Jackson bought publishing rights to the catalog for about $48 million two decades ago at the height of his career.

Brent Ayscough, a civil lawyer for Jackson, told Reuters that representatives for the 47-year-old entertainer and Fortress were working to renegotiate terms of the loans to give Jackson more time to avoid default.

And he suggested that the possibility of imminent foreclosure on Jackson's stake in Sony/ATV was unlikely.

"There no doomsday, or anything like that," Ayscough said. "Nothing's going to happen tomorrow. ... At the moment people are still talking." He said a deal could be reached as early as this week.

He said Sony, which music industry experts believe is eager to acquire Jackson's share of the catalog, also is a party to the talks.

Representatives of Fortress, which manages about $5 billion in private equity capital, could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for Sony declined to discuss the matter.

According to prosecution testimony during his sex-abuse trial earlier this year, Jackson had borrowed heavily against his assets, including $200 million secured by his stake in Sony/ATV. Those loans, first provided by Bank of America Corp., were later sold to Fortress.

Jackson, who was acquitted of all charges by a California jury in June, is currently living in Bahrain in the Middle East.

Rights to the Beatles music passed to the conglomerate ATV through its purchase of the band's publishing company, Northern Songs, in 1969.

Jackson in turn acquired the 4,000-song catalog, including the Beatles titles, when he bought ATV from the late Australian tycoon Robert Holmes a Court in August 1985. Ten years later, Jackson cut his stake in the catalog to 50 percent after merging ATV with Sony's publishing. Jackson also kept a 50-percent stake in new songs added to the collection.

The Sony/ATV catalog also includes songs like Bob Dylan's classic "Blowin' in the Wind" and the works of such artists as Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks. But the Beatles' rights account for an estimated two-thirds of the collection's value.

Industry experts say the catalog is one of the most treasured in the world, especially since the recent explosion in music licensing for media ranging from movies and television ads to cellphone ringtones and video games.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

The singer's $330m debts could result in the forced sale of Neverland and his half of the Beatles catalogue
By Nicholas Wapshott in New York
Published: 18 December 2005
Michael Jackson faces the forced sale of the Neverland Ranch and his half of the Beatles song catalogue unless he can come up with a repayment of some of the money he owes to a hedge fund by Tuesday.

Jackson, 47, who has debts of $339m (£191m), must repay the New York-based Fortress Investments, the firm of "distressed debt" specialists that acquired Jackson's $270m loan from Bank of America in May after the singer reportedly failed to make a $350,000 repayment the previous month.

Jackson also missed a payment to Fortress in October, prompting a rescheduling of the debt until Tuesday.

Unless he finds the cash, Fortress may move against the assets, which secure the loan. At stake is Jackson's half of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalogue of 300,000 songs - including more than 200 Beatles songs - bought in its entirety in 1985 for $47.5m, which earns him $75m a year.

Also at risk is Jackson's publishing company Mijac, which owns the rights to his own songs and to music by Elvis Presley, Sly and the Family Stone and others, against which the singer has borrowed $69m.

He may also be obliged to sell the 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch outside Santa Barbara, California, complete with zoo animals, a funfair and annual running costs of $5m.

Already put on the market by Jackson is the Hayvenhurst mansion in Encino, California, which he bought in the 1970s for his mother Katherine.

The singer has failed to keep up mortgage repayments on a $2.2m loan he took out against the Encino property, and his mother, and brothers Randy and Jermaine, have reportedly been told they must leave by next month.

Jackson and his children have been staying in Bahrain as a guest of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Khalifa since the singer was acquitted of child sex charges in June. The singer has no intention of returning to America and is described by his lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, as "permanently living outside of the United States".

According to court testimony, Jackson is outspending income by up to $30m a year, and Myong-Ho Lee, his former financial adviser, described his finances as "a ticking time bomb".

His half of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalogue, which he shares with Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, is worth at least $500m, and Mijac, which he wholly owns, is valued at $150m.

Estate agents say Jackson's Neverland ranch, bought for $17m in 1988, would fetch $55m.

But Jackson's financial woes are complicated by the terms of the Beatles catalogue deal with Sony, which ends this month. Sony has the right to buy Jackson's half of the catalogue from him for $200m unless he repays the loan or finds another buyer.

Fortress is certain to step in if Jackson's ownership of the lucrative Beatles library is put at risk, and may demand that the catalogue be transferred to it.

Nor do Jackson's financial woes stop there. On top of the $10m in legal bills from his child sex trial, his former manager, Dieter Wiesner, claims Jackson owes him $64m for selling merchandising rights that he wasn't entitled to.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Jackson's former business partner, Frederic Marc Schaffel, claims he is owed $2m for loans made to Jackson, as well as $800,000 for producing two Jackson television shows in 2003. The singer is countersuing.

Jackson is also suing Marcel Avram, a former manager who won compensation from the singer for not performing at two concerts on New Year's Eve 2001, and he must defend himself against a further breach-of-contract suit brought by a refinancing firm.

In an effort to drum up cash quickly, Jackson is reissuing 20 of his singles in the UK, with the releases coming one week apart. The first, "Thriller", hits the shops on 23 January.

Over his career, the pop star has earnt around $500m, including $100m from concerts, $30m from endorsements, $20m from video sales and $25m from merchandise. At the peak of his popularity, he took home $50m a year.

His latest album, Invincible, cost him $25m to produce, on top of $5m provided by Sony, but the record failed to take off. In eight months, it sold just six million worldwide, returning him only $15m.

This compares with his mega-hit album Thriller, which made him a massive $115m. Bad and Dangerous both earnt him $47.5m, and HIStory made $35m.

Michael Jackson faces the forced sale of the Neverland Ranch and his half of the Beatles song catalogue unless he can come up with a repayment of some of the money he owes to a hedge fund by Tuesday.

Jackson, 47, who has debts of $339m (£191m), must repay the New York-based Fortress Investments, the firm of "distressed debt" specialists that acquired Jackson's $270m loan from Bank of America in May after the singer reportedly failed to make a $350,000 repayment the previous month.

Jackson also missed a payment to Fortress in October, prompting a rescheduling of the debt until Tuesday.

Unless he finds the cash, Fortress may move against the assets, which secure the loan. At stake is Jackson's half of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalogue of 300,000 songs - including more than 200 Beatles songs - bought in its entirety in 1985 for $47.5m, which earns him $75m a year.

Also at risk is Jackson's publishing company Mijac, which owns the rights to his own songs and to music by Elvis Presley, Sly and the Family Stone and others, against which the singer has borrowed $69m.

He may also be obliged to sell the 2,700-acre Neverland Ranch outside Santa Barbara, California, complete with zoo animals, a funfair and annual running costs of $5m.

Already put on the market by Jackson is the Hayvenhurst mansion in Encino, California, which he bought in the 1970s for his mother Katherine.

The singer has failed to keep up mortgage repayments on a $2.2m loan he took out against the Encino property, and his mother, and brothers Randy and Jermaine, have reportedly been told they must leave by next month.

Jackson and his children have been staying in Bahrain as a guest of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Khalifa since the singer was acquitted of child sex charges in June. The singer has no intention of returning to America and is described by his lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, as "permanently living outside of the United States".

According to court testimony, Jackson is outspending income by up to $30m a year, and Myong-Ho Lee, his former financial adviser, described his finances as "a ticking time bomb".

His half of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalogue, which he shares with Sony/BMG Music Entertainment, is worth at least $500m, and Mijac, which he wholly owns, is valued at $150m.

You could get the money
You could get the power
But keep your eyes on the final hour

~ Lauryn Hill "Final Hour"



i don't think Michael Jackson will be going hungry anytime soon. i think his ego will be more bruised than his wallet. his careless spending, and or greed, has bit him in the ass. i suppose it's all relative if you're playing on that level of financial wealth. but damn, that is quite a fall. though i don't pity him, i think Michael Jackson's story is sad all around. from childhood to present day. i'm not trying to get too into his personal shit here; but it goes to show that the more you possess, the more you stand to lose. 'how the mighty have fallen'.

carlcranshaw said:

sony wanted to do a deal this year whereby he keeps 25% and gets rid of all his debt!!

about 10yrs back sony paid mj 100mil to get 50% but also combined thier own catalogue into it


but he refused

another thing is his manager who made the deal in 1985 makes a cool 5%

asg said:

His Attorney John Branca.

carlcranshaw said:

do they consider him 'valuable' enough to go out on a limb for him? in other words, would he be able to recoup with albums/singles/tours. i'm sure he can still draw crowds to an arena for sell out shows. but how long do you think it would take to repay sony? what's his net worth now?

MoonSongs said:

p.s. Thanks

CHIC0 said:

many welcomes!

CHIC0 said:

They'll probably count on him NOT paying them back and they keep it 100%.

There is kind of a stalemate going on here..

Michael has made it clear that he doesn't really wanna do live shows.

Sony made it clear they won't promote his albums big time unless he does a tour.

Yes there were talks of an "Invincible" tour however, did it happen? No.

Either Michael is going to tour and rank some serious $ or someone will help him out I would imagine.

MoonSongs said:

Yeah,they announced this on one of our local radio stations.For Michael's sake,I hope this isn't true.But on the other hand,he really does need a serious reality check.If he goes broke,it just might finally make him WAKE UP and be more responsible with his money.

jasonstar said:

I just don't understand why he refuses to tour.That's the only way he could generate some major income these days.He could go to Vegas,sign up for one of those Celine Dion-type deals where he plays the same venue every night,and make millions of dollars.If he wants to continue to live the lavish lifestyle that he now lives,he's gonna have to generate some serious income asap.

He has very little self control!!

What if he went to vegas i can imagine him fallin for gambling and losing his money there!!


he can easily life comfortabel life without wasting money

i can totally see him doing some vegas live show. He loves the place (all that fake grandeur), and its the kind of place where he could have a really lavish stage to distract from his loss of mobility and dancing. More than that though the man would need to come off his drug addictions. You can’t put on a convincing live show when in a permanent state of comatose.

Let´s wait if this is true. There are so many stories that it´s unbelievable. Last time he was supposed to be a father of quadruplets. That seemed to be a big news as well and what came out of it?

dag said:

I think this news is in a different category than MJ having quadruplets...There are indepth articles that have reported on his recent money woes...Reputable media outlets like The LA Times and NY Times...This is not the run of the mill "Wacko Jacko" story...This is some serious and tragically real shit...

carlcranshaw said:

Sony May Step In to Help Jackson
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Fox 411
By Roger Friedman

Michael Jackson may have an unlikely ally as of tomorrow in the fight for his financial life.

I am told that Sony Music, his partner in the $1 billion dollar Sony/ATV Music Publishing Company, is offering to step in and help Jackson with his $270 million worth of loans.

The loans — $200 million of which are secured by Jackson's 50% share in Sony/ATV — were bought in April by Fortress Investments from Bank of America. Jackson is in default and could be foreclosed on as early as tomorrow.

But sources inside Sony say the company has been in talks with Fortress for some time about clearing up Jackson's financial woes and bringing him current at least on monthly payments.

"This would be in our best interests," said a Sony insider, who points out that if Fortress forecloses on Jackson, Sony would be farther away from owning his half of the company than they are now.

Sony insiders also stress that Fortress would be unable simply to foreclose and put Jackson's assets on auction to any buyer. According to the covenants of the Sony agreement with Jackson, whomever has the assets cannot sell them without first offering them to Sony.

The big question remains: How much does Jackson understand of all this and who exactly is advising him?

My Sony sources say that Jackson is now totally represented by Sheik Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Prince of Bahrain, and his associates.

According to stateside sources, Jackson has not been in touch with most of his family or with his trusted aide, Evvy Tavasci, in months. Recent visitors to the Bahrainian palace are said to have spoken with the Prince but didn't see or speak to Jackson.

Even more interesting is that Jackson's brother Jermaine, who got the ball rolling for his brother in Bahrain, is back in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future, perhaps wondering where he and his own family will live if Jackson is forced to sell his parents' home in Encino.

That leaves Michael alone except for his children and their nanny, Grace Rwamba.

Jackson and the Prince are still saying to friends that they hope to finance a record company that will be distributed in the U.S. and they also plan on releasing that much discussed charity single someday soon.

Hurricane Katrina, if you recall, did its damage nearly four months ago. But Dec. 26h is the first anniversary of last year's deadly tsunami in Indonesia. Maybe Jackson can tie it to that instead.

"they also plan on releasing that much discussed charity single someday soon"


Seems to me that MJ may need a charity single to benefit himself

Booooorrring

uh oh.....

Hmm...I wish I had a dollar for everytime Friedman predicted Jacko's imminent financial doom!!

However, Friedman aside, it does appear matters really are coming to a head right now...sounds like we won't have to wait long to find out!

What's up with the claim that the publishing catalog earns him $75 million per year? If he's making that kind of money just from that source (not including any other source of income, such as the royalties from his own recordings and videos), how can he be in so much debt?

As for him going on tour or getting a lucrative Vegas gig...sorry, I can't imagine him having enough focus or discipline to perform regularly or consistently. And he would have to convince promoters that he could do that before they'd put up the money to pay advances or finance a show.

CinisterCee said:

WeepyEyedWhiteGirl said:

haha sorry, was that completely naive of me?