scorp84 said:

yep, he's been business partners with the royalty in bahrain for a number of years. Kingdom Entertainment, Kingdom holdings etc


from the BOTDF booklet:



MJ has a lot of money invested in property there as i've mentioned before. see towards the bottom of http://www.prince.org/msg/8/155697

http://www.saudinf.com/main/y6241.htm

12/10/2003 Crown Prince opens Kingdom Tower
Riyadh, 12th October 2003

Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, today patronized the opening ceremony of seven investment projects worth over SR3 billion, developed by the Kingdom Holding Company.


The event was attended by Prince Mishaal bin Abdul Aziz, and Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Premier, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General.

Upon his arrival, Crown Prince Abdullah was received by Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region; Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kingdom Holding Company and Chairman of the Kingdom Centre, and Prince Khalid bin Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz.

The Crown Prince unveiled the plaques of the Kingdom Trade Centre, the Woman’s Kingdom, the SAX Fifth Avenue, and the Four Seasons Hotel.

Eng. Talal Al-Maiman, Executive Manager for Domestic Investments at the Company and Executive General Manager of the Kingdom Trade Centre, told the gathering that the Company’s projects offer over 2,000 job opportunities to Saudi youths.

Prince Al-Waleed announced that the Kingdom Tower won the prize for the world’s best skyscraper of the year 2003, awarded by the World Skyscrapers Commission, out of 350 buildings worldwide that were competing for the title.

The Kingdom Trade Centre was awarded the world’s best and most advanced design of a shopping centre for the year 2003, awarded by Walter Clinchmet.

Source: SPA

Incidentally that was the shopping centre Mike was first photographed in when he disappeared to the middle east.



Cheers!
[Edited 1/6/06 13:27pm]

me too, but I understand that the last years have not been easy for him and that he was happy to have enough strength to get out of bed and keep his sanity till he falls asleep again. I think he deserves some time and he won´t let us down.


that´s true. He had the same opportunity to buy it as Michael.

No fear about MJ's future in the UK. Hi-Tack are releasing a banging club tune mid-january based around MJ's hook on Say Say Say, it's been massive in the clubs and been getting loads of airplay on radio one.

Plus there's the visionary CD/DVD singles boxset with it's weekly consecutive releases. I expect we might see MJ hit top ten in the next couple of months more than once. Might even be time to put a fiver on at the bookies on MJ hitting #1. I would probably piss myself laughing if that happened.

It worked for Elvis three times last year so you never know.

Marrk said:

Those are some serious names...

Didnt know we had Michaels own personal accountant on the Prince.org boards!
welcome!

how much did michael spend in 1996?

Since you know so much and are an expert, you should be able to tell us,
especially since you know how much debt he has

LOL

some people just have no brains
reading tabloid trash

dirtyman2005 said:

He's making an argument for his take on things. How is that any different than what you did?

Ownning the publishing rights to the Beatles Catalog alone should make him set for life. Poor Paul McCartney. He's the one who told Michael about owning the rights to songs. And what does he do? He goes and out bids McCartney for all those tunes he helped write.

FunkyBrotha said:

What ARE you rambling about???? You didnt even read my post properly, if you did, youd have understood it and not made a complete idiot of yourself by posting that load of rubbish. If McCartney stated he made less than MJ from Beatles one, it will be through some weird clause in his original contract for Northern Songs, or it will be Paul exaggerating to ram home a point (the point being "oh isnt it unfair nasty MJ makes money from songs I wrote").

The retail price of every CD sold is broken down between record company, songwriters, artists, expenses, and many other different factors. Songwriter royalties represent roughly 4-5% of the price YOU pay in the shops, Artist royalties usually represent 6-7% of this price. Songwriter royalties are divided between the songwriter and the publisher, normally 50/50. Artist royalties are 100% the artists.

Therefore, McCartney would get 25% of songwriter royalties as he has half of the Lennon & McCartney songwriting partnership. MJ would also get 25% of songwriter royalties as he owns half of the publishing rights. Yoko Ono would get 25% and Sony would get the other 25%. McCartney would also get 25% of artist royalties as he is one fourth of the Beatles. Now there are always little deals on the side of this that may alter this situation, but as far as im aware, this is the set up with the parts of the Beatles catalogue owned by Sony/ATV. I therefore find it impossible to see how MJ could earn more than McCartney, unless there is a very weird distribution of royalties between songwriter & publishers.

Im sure it pisses McCartney off big time that not only MJ earns money for work he had nothing to do with, but also Yoko Ono earns the same amount. I can understand he's pissed off, but then again i have little sympathy for him. What pisses me off is MJ sycophants using the Beatles catalogue like some kind of fucking trophy. As if it proves this MJ is the greatest because he owns the Beatles....fucking bullshit. The publishing rights are not the be all and end all of songs. Yes it gives a degree of control, a large degree, but ultimately the song belongs to the songwriter.

ThePunisher said:

That's my take on it. Mike such a good friend. I have mentioned this before and got ripped a new one..with people saying "too bad for the Beatles..MJ was only making a wise business decision. so and so owns such and such, so why shouldn't MJ own what he wants" IMHO in terms of friendships go...that's NOT what a friend does. I mean how would YOU feel if you made something beautiful, only to have your friend obtain it over you and use it for thier gain. It's one of the main reasons I don't consider MJ an artist. Artists don't do that. Real Artists anyway.

FunkyBrotha said:

well aint that a b*tch....maybe he should have thought about that all them times he was re-upping his contract.

Michael Jackson ain't broke! What his financial condition is right now, though, is asset rich but cash poor. In other words, he has a cash flow problem. He needs to spend millions of dollars just to keep his Neverland ranch running, but he also goes on shopping sprees and has been known to spend $6 million a pop on artwork and other luxury items. He also rents out an entire floor of hotel suites just to be alone in privacy, and this is after he spends $25,000 a night on penthouse suites, where he will usually spend a week or two. (Just buy a guest mansion already.)

If anything, he needs a manager who will help run his personal affairs and be able to help rein in his spending. (Frank DiLeo used to do this until Michael fired him.) Unfortunately, he surrounded himself with yes men and women who either are too afraid to say anything to him or are trying to take advantage of him.

superspaceboy said:

Macca wasn't gonna get the catalog anyway, he had been outbidded by other people before MJ stepped in.

article...rude....ignorant....and just plain stupid (sticking it to the man?) yeah...whatever....he's just a freak.....and America doesn't like freaks....so deal with it

sosgemini said:

Paul doesn't bitch now , his lasts interviews give the feeling that he's an happy man with his current life and his career, it's not like a so called king..

pkidwell said:

How do they? Americans are the biggest freaks on Earth!
[quote]

dirtyman2005 said:

I stopped reading at that point, the guy obviously doesn't know what the fuck he's talkin' about. He either has a problem with correct punctuation, or finds it hard to put things in a correct context - and considering that's the general tenure of his arguement, I thought i'd save wasting my time reading anymore of it.

superspaceboy said:

Paul didn't even bid on the catalogue. Secondly, Michael told him he was bidding on the catalogue, before anything else. So, he wasn't a "friend" for telling his "friend" what he was gonna do, and then doing it?

What i don't understand is...if MJ isn't broke,why does he have to keep getting all these big loans that he is having trouble re-paying? The Sony/Beatles catalog should be very lucrative for him,right?


my guess is that he is spending more money than he is making these days.

http://www.gulf-daily-new...ueID=28294



MANAMA: Pop superstar Michael Jackson is holding talks with a Bahrain-based company over a string of possible entertainment projects in the Gulf, from theme parks to music academies.

The star and AAJ Holdings are discussing ways of working together, it was announced yesterday.

Mr Jackson may provide the company and its subsidiaries with consultancy advice to help bolster the music and entertainment sector in the Gulf.

"Stagnant" properties could be revived through entertainment projects, says AAJ Holdings owner and founder Ahmed Abubaker Janahi.

His group has interests in companies around the world and concentrates on projects involving city and urban developments.

AAJ Holdings was instrumental in the creation of the Bahrain Financial Harbour in Bahrain and the Blue City in Oman.

Officials would not comment further yesterday.

A bit of positive MJ news for once.

http://www.thedeal.com/NA...p=M4YD5AR1

Michael Jackson stages turnaround
by Richard Morgan Posted 04:44 EST, 6, Jan 2006

Michael Jackson's professional behavior has taken such a bizarre turn toward the rational that the erstwhile King of Pop could have his financial house in order as early as next month.

The House that "Thriller" built and that Jackson has since nearly demolished is still a messy place. But thanks to a short-term extension on $200 million of debt collateralized by his stake in the so-called Beatles song catalog — not to mention new representation intent on resolving outstanding legal and financial matters — sources familiar with Jackson's finances are more optimistic than they've been in months about averting bankruptcy.

Moreover, the singer appears sufficiently recovered from his June acquittal of child molestation charges to have retained advisers who have more going for them than, as has previously been charged, "having Michael's ear." New legal representation from Jackson's post-trial base in Bahrain has even been complimented by a critical U.S. observer for providing "good advice."

Much of that advice concerns Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a music-­publishing joint venture between Jackson and Sony Corp. While it's informally known as the Beatles catalog, the copyrights Sony/ATV either owns or administers extend far beyond the Fab Four to include songs by Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, the Everly Brothers, Jimi Hendrix and many others.

Borrowing against his stake in Sony/ATV — a half-share that court testimony has valued in excess of $500 million — Jackson reportedly owed Bank of America Corp. more than $250 million by 2000. According to court documents, however, BofA dissociated itself from Jackson last May by selling $272.5 million of the singer's debt to New York private equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC.

Of the amount taken on by Fortress, $200 million was said to have been collateralized by Sony/ATV. Jackson's solely owned catalog, MiJac Music Publishing Co., and a lien on his Neverland ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley secured the remainder.

On Dec. 20, Jackson's Sony/ATV-backed loan came due. The deadline gave way to the short-term extension, ultimately, after erroneous speculation Fortress would use a Jackson default to force the singer to sell his Sony/ATV stake to Sony.

In exchange for the extension, Fortress is receiving extension fees and a default interest rate. But the "buying of time," a source said, will prove well worth it.

"They're putting together a long-term plan," he explained, "for paying down some debt and coming up with a lifestyle the guy can actually afford." Another source close to the case added, "Michael's now aware it would be financial suicide for him to lose the catalog by not getting a deal done."

On a parallel track, but to the same end, Jackson has also obtained new representation in an action against him by Prescient Acquisition Group Inc. That suit, filed July 11, seeks $48 million for advisory services allegedly undertaken on behalf of Jackson not only to pay off his bank debt but to buy out Sony from their mutually owned catalog.

After being retained in November 2004, the suit charges, "Prescient in fact secured a commitment for a total of $537.5 million in financing to enable Mr. Jackson to pay off the Bank of America debt and exercise his 'put option' to purchase the 50% interest in the entity known as Sony/ATV that he does not currently own." For its efforts, the suit continues, Prescient has a documented right to a fee of 9% of "the principal amount funded or committed."

Sources close to Sony insisted there's no way it's selling its half of Sony/ATV. However, according to the Prescient suit, a trust set up by Jackson has "an option to purchase the remaining 50% interest in that Beatles library from its partner, Sony/ATV, for $200 million."

The suit has been repeatedly delayed in court, most recently by Latham & Watkins LLP's withdrawing in November as counsel for Jackson. But it promises to begin anew now that William B. Wachtel of Wachtel & Masyr LLP has started representing the defendant.

One source noted that Wachtel and lead Prescient attorney Steven Altman are familiar with the case's legal terrain, having both worked on "Bowie bonds" back in the 1990s. "They know this stuff isn't brain surgery," he said, "so I'm guessing they'll be able to work together and get a deal done."