Michael Jackson's Estate Is Selling A Profitable Catalog For Up To $900 Million

The estate of Michael Jackson has announced plans to sell a portion of the icon’s catalog for nearly $1 billion.

Three sources confirmed to Variety that the estate is in the process of selling half of its interest in the legend’s catalog for between $800M and $900M. Sony Music and a possible financial partner have been named as the likely buyers of Jackson’s publishing, which will include “recorded-music revenues, the ‘MJ: The Musical’ Broadway show, the upcoming biopic ‘Michael,’ and possibly more assets.”

A financial source tells Variety that Primary Wave Music already owns a stake in Jackson’s publishing catalog, though the specifics of that ownership are unknown.

Throughout Jackson’s entire solo career as well as his later years with The Jackson Five, Sony Music and its predecessor CBS housed his music library. In 1995, the label and the “Remember The Time” artist joined into a joint venture with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, in which Jackson acquired a 50% stake.

Seven years after Jackson’s passing, Sony paid the Jackson Estate $750M for its portion of the joint venture in 2016, and it now seems to be coming around for additional ownership.

Bruce Springsteen’s song portfolio was purchased by Sony Music in 2021 for about $600M, continuing the company’s reputation for acquiring important music collections.

Jackson’s catalog sale would rank among the biggest and most successful in music history.

The announcement comes after allegations that a number of other music icons sold their own catalogs for hefty sums of money. Iggy Azalea sold all of her masters and published works to Domain Capital in an eight-figure transaction in November 2022, while Justin Bieber sold his catalog for $200M in January.

The “Mask Off” rapper sold his publishing for between $65M and $75M, and producer Zaytoven parted ties with Ultra International Music Publishing after selling his rights to tracks like Migos’ “Versace” and Travis Scott’s “3500” for an undisclosed sum.

Michael Jackson’s Estate Is Selling A Profitable Catalog For Up To $900 Million

The estate of Michael Jackson has announced plans to sell a portion of the icon’s catalog for nearly $1 billion.

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