In an article on CNN: Money: Michael Jackson to lose Beatles catalog?, it describes how Michael Jackson is at risk of losing his stake in the ownership rights to the entire Beatles music catalog worth an estimated $400 million dollars. The thrust of the article is that Jackson is spending way more than he’s bringing in and is in hock to finance heavyweights like Bank of America from whom he borrowed $270 million dollars as part of two loans. As collateral, Jackson put up his stake of the Beatles catalog as well as the rights to his own musical catalog.
Interestingly, $200 million dollars of his debt was sold to a hedge fund by the name of Fortress Investment Group, which specializes in what they euphemistically call distressed securities, investments comprised of debts like Michael Jackson’s. I am no supporter of Michael Jackson, nor have I followed the case, but $475 million dollars is no small matter. If you could target a legally vulnerable individual like Michael Jackson who has been forced into debt due to his legal troubles and make sure he gets into more trouble, you could stand to make a killing. All you would need to do is find a mother without scruples and a need for quick cash, get her inside Neverland, and watch the fiasco begin.