Financial Troubles for MJ
Published November 21, 2003
The album, which received lackluster reviews, sold only two million copies in this country, a far cry from Mr. Jackson's 1982 best seller "Thriller," which sold 23 million copies.
Mr. Jackson then complained that Epic Records, which is owned by Sony, did not support the release of his album, which led to the poor sales. But executives close to Sony said that the record company had spent $25 million to promote the album and that when the album did not take off the company did not want to spend more.
....People who have advised Mr. Jackson said much of his wealth in recent years had come from his ownership stake in Sony/ATV, a 50/50 music publishing joint venture between Mr. Jackson and Sony Music Entertainment, which merged their two music publishing catalogs in 1995 to create a money machine that included not only Mr. Jackson's works but also more than 250 Beatles songs.
....People close to Sony said at the time that Mr. Jackson was running out of money, an assertion that Mr. Jackson has denied. But before 2002, Mr. Jackson took out a loan against his share in the joint venture that the record company guaranteed based on the future earnings of their partnership, the people close to Sony said.
If Mr. Jackson defaulted on the loan guaranteed by Sony, these people said, the record company had the right to buy Mr. Jackson's share. According to a Vanity Fair article written by Maureen Orth last April, court filings in the case involving the business adviser, Mr. Lee, show that Mr. Jackson secured nearly $240 million in loans from 1998 to 2000, but not all the loans were guaranteed by Sony. The catalog, according to the article, was valued at $700 million to $1 billion. [NY Times] That's a damn deep pool, but not a bottomless one.
- Financial Troubles for MJ
- Published: November 21, 2003
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- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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He is of course a pitiable figure, but when the safety of children are concerned, they must become the priority.
Who has fallen further, Mike Tyson or Michael Jackson?
i don't know. has anybody ever respected tyson?
it's hard to say in the big picture, but their plunges cover similar altitude
I once respected Tyson's work in the ring. He was unbelievable at age 21. Now even that's gone, and not strictly because of age.
he is just another case that's just destroyed by false charges against him - like tupac shakur, whom they even tried to accuse of sodomy to destroy his reputation.
Michelle, surely you aren't saying there have been false charges against Mike Tyson?!? he is one of the most deranged thugs in the public eye of the last century.
Eric, many people believe Tyson got a raw deal in his rape conviction. I do not agree with those people.
As for MJ, I presume innocence until he is proven guilty in court. That said, of course I don't support that baby-dangling business (that blew my mind) and I wouldn't allow my kids to have sleepovers with non-age-appropriate friends, whether or not they were self-proclaimed deities of pop. But neither of those things necessarily make Jackson a child molester. I'll wait until all the information is out and the evidence presented. And apparently, there is much still awaiting revelation.
we are in agreement and you are wise
Perhaps there's A VIABLE SOLUTION for Michael Jackson's various problems.
I think space is the place, Al
Michael will be disappointed
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i do feel sorry for jackson (not that that let's him off the hook for what he may have done or anything).
seems like he's the textbook example of somebody who was just crushed by his celebrity. the friggin' ranch, the cosmetic surgery....man, it's just creepy, and sad.