He Bought The Beatles — Michael Jackson

THE FACT

Paul McCartney once told Michael, over dinner during the recording of Say Say Say, that the smartest thing he could do was buy other people's songs. A year later Michael outbid Paul himself for ATV Music — the publishing catalogue containing 251 Lennon/McCartney songs.

WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW

Michael's lawyer John Branca later said Paul was given right of first refusal but his bid topped out around $40 million; Michael went to $47.5 million in cash after months of secret negotiation with ATV's Australian owner Robert Holmes à Court. The deal also included the rights to songs by Little Richard, the Pointer Sisters and 4,000 others. In 1995 the catalogue was merged with Sony to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing, of which Michael owned half. By the time his estate sold its share back to Sony in 2016, the Jackson half alone was worth $750 million. Without the ATV purchase, Michael would have died deeply in debt instead of leaving the most valuable music estate in history. Paul, for his part, has called the fallout 'a slight strain on our friendship' but has consistently denied the long-running rumour that he and Michael never spoke again.

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THE MOMENT

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson — Say Say Say (Official Video, 1983) — The collaboration that started the conversation about song catalogues.

SOURCES

Billboard — The story of MJ buying ATV ↗