Michael Jackson Just Earned His Family $750 Million

Carl Williott | March 15, 2016 11:46 am

Michael Jackson‘s estate agreed to sell its 50% stake in Sony/ATV to Sony for $750 million. USA Today reports the deal will give Sony full publishing ownership of works by massive acts like The Beatles, Eminem and Taylor Swift. Jackson’s master recordings and songs that he wrote were not included in the deal and will stay under his estate’s control.

According to CNN Money, in 1985 Jackson paid $41.5 million to acquire the ATV catalog, which included a hefty amount of Beatles material, outbidding Paul McCartney, and in 1995 Sony/ATV was formed.

It ended up being one of the most lucrative deals in music history, but Jackson was still hundreds of millions of dollars in debt when he died at age 50 in 2009 — which was the impetus for this buyout.