Now Maybe Paul McCartney can buy his songs back - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Astrocloud · 02-12-2004, 11:08 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/12/ar...ic/12JACK.html

Quote:

Michael Jackson Faces Cash Crisis
By SHARON WAXMAN

Published: February 12, 2004

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11 — Michael Jackson is near insolvency as he continues to pile up debt, sapping his last credit reserves, several close financial advisers say.

Mr. Jackson faces an immediate cash crisis with a $70 million loan from the Bank of America that is due on Tuesday and has no money to repay it, the advisers said. But Al Malnik, a Miami entrepreneur who is helping repair Mr. Jackson's finances, said that he was trying to have the loan extended.

Mr. Malnik said he met with Mr. Jackson's business managers this week to discuss the loan. Together, he said, they were "working toward a positive resolution of Michael's financial affairs and business affairs that will result in a reorganization of his valuable assets."

The child molestation charges against Mr. Jackson and allegations that the Nation of Islam, the black separatist group, is involved in his affairs have scared banks off and hurt his ability to make more money, the Jackson advisers said. Banks were particularly reluctant to extend him credit, they said, because of reports that a senior member of the Nation of Islam, Leonard Muhammad, was controlling Mr. Jackson's finances. Mr. Muhammad, who has a series of failed businesses in his past, hung up the telephone on a reporter who called for comment.

Mr. Malnik is a multimillionaire who in 1993 was alleged to have had ties to the mob, an accusation he denied. He is the owner of a national chain of loan stores, Title Loans of America, which consumer advocates have criticized as lending at exorbitant rates.

At least two groups of investors who were prepared to make business deals with Mr. Jackson last year have backed away from them because of the criminal charges, people involved in the deals say. At the same time new sources of income for Mr. Jackson in the form of records or concert tours seem to be out of the question until the molestation charges are resolved. Mr. Jackson is accused of nine felony counts related to acts involving a 13-year-old boy. His lawyers are to appear in court on Friday to set a date for a preliminary hearing.

Meanwhile creditors and vendors, like law firms, Internet providers and marketing companies, are being asked to discount their invoices even as Mr. Jackson has rented a $70,000-a-month home in Beverly Hills, Calif., while his 2,700-acre ranch, Neverland, stands empty, two vendors said.

One adviser said that Mr. Jackson had about a half-dozen sources of income, including royalties from BMI and other music companies. But his most valuable asset by far is the Beatles catalog of about 250 songs, which Mr. Jackson and Sony Music Entertainment jointly own as part of the ATV Music Publishing catalog, with an estimated value of $800 million to $900 million. The catalog of Mr. Jackson's own music, including hits like "Billie Jean" and "Beat It," has an estimated value of $75 million to $90 million.

Mr. Malnik said that he was helping Mr. Jackson out of friendship. The loan is guaranteed by the Jackson music catalog, which would revert to the Bank of America if Mr. Jackson defaulted, said several of his advisers. They explained his financial affairs in detail on condition of anonymity, some saying that they were unhappy about the Nation of Islam's involvement, others saying that they wanted to counter inaccurate reports about Mr. Jackson's finances.

A spokeswoman for the Bank of America declined to comment.

Mr. Malnik and Charles Koppelman, a business manager for Mr. Jackson, hope to extend the loan's due date to December 2005, now with the backing of a New York-based hedge fund, the advisers said. If Mr. Jackson were to default in 2005, the hedge fund would take over the Jackson-music catalog.

State financial filings in California show that Mr. Jackson owes millions of dollars to the Bank of America. In addition to the $70 million loan, there is also a $200 million loan, guaranteed by the ATV music catalog that he owns with Sony. But the Jackson advisers said that asset was also leveraged for an additional $250 million to buy other music libraries by other stars.

If the catalog were sold to pay the Bank of America debt, there would be nothing left for Mr. Jackson once the proceeds were divided with Sony and the taxes paid, the advisers said.

Mr. Jackson does not appear worried. Several close associates said he was spending about $2 million a month, often on shopping sprees, like one for cars on a recent weekend. He is also paying for a contingent of Nation of Islam members, who have become part of his inner circle, associates said.

Under the Bank of America loan, Mr. Jackson is limited to spending $1.5 million a month, his advisers said. "There's a few million dollars left to be drawn down, and after that there is a reserve to pay the interest," said one adviser, who has been renegotiating the credit line.

It is unclear what Mr. Jackson would do if that money was used up. One adviser said that Mr. Jackson did not seem to realize that his music no longer pulled in the millions in royalties that it once did, because of depressed sales in the music industry.

Even now, half the money earned by Mr. Jackson goes to the bank under the loan agreement. "All of the funds coming into the bank as income from projects and music royalties, the bank retains 50 percent of that to retain a credit line," one adviser said. "He can use the other 50 percent."

As part of the terms of the two loans, Mr. Malnik must act as a trustee over Mr. Jackson's spending. Mr. Malnik became involved with Mr. Jackson a year ago when he faced bankruptcy from creditors, including hotel chains and security companies.

Mr. Malnik said that the bank was about to place a lien on Neverland and other assets last year when he stepped in. Mr. Malnik was linked to organized-crime figures in 1993 by a New Jersey gaming commission. "The evidence establishes that Mr. Malnik associated with persons engaged in organized criminal activities," the commission said in a report, "and that he himself participated in transactions that were clearly illegitimate and illegal."

Some close to Mr. Jackson say that Mr. Malnik wants to legitimize his image by helping Mr. Jackson.

Mr. Muhammad, a Nation of Islam leader, has become Mr. Jackson's main adviser.

Mr. Jackson has also hired a spokeswoman, Raymone Baine, who said that she was shocked that Mr. Jackson's advisers had spoken to a reporter: "They should not be speaking to the press; that's outrageous."

Before the child molestation charges, several financial rescue plans had been in the works for Mr. Jackson through a consortium of investors led by Mr. Malnik. But Mr. Jackson's advisers said that any investments that might repair his financial condition are unlikely to progress as long as the felony charges hang over him. Said one adviser who had been involved in the pending deals, "It is exceptionally more difficult now."

Holo · 02-12-2004, 11:11 AM

NO sympathy. Sorry, but if he wouldn't have blown millions on a theme park and all that other shit he'd have money. This goes for all rich ppl not just him. If you spend extravagantly and then get caught short you deserve to fall.

gabshu · 02-12-2004, 11:16 AM

Agreed

Lebell · 02-12-2004, 11:17 AM

No sympathy here either, for anyone who can't limit him/herself to 1.5 million dollars a month.

Cynthetiq · 02-12-2004, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lebell
No sympathy here either, for anyone who can't limit him/herself to 1.5 million dollars a month.

wow... that's amazing...

clifclav · 02-12-2004, 02:01 PM

Fitgerald: The rich are very different from you and I Ernest.
Hemingway: Yeah, they have more money.

Or something like that. I sometimes feel dirty for having bought one of his records a long time ago.

Halx · 02-12-2004, 02:07 PM

"Michael Jackson faces cash crisis"

I read that as..

"Michael Jackson's face crashes"

and to quote Patrick Ewing, "We make a lot of money, but we spend a lot also."

Cynthetiq · 02-12-2004, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Halx
"Michael Jackson faces cash crisis"

I read that as..

"Michael Jackson's face crashes"

and to quote Patrick Ewing, "We make a lot of money, but we spend a lot also."

reminds me of the Behind the Music with MC Hammer, "yeah I'm broke, but the house you see here isn't indicative of how broke I really am..."

Tophat665 · 02-12-2004, 03:10 PM

Damn! A silver lining! Whodahthunkit? Sir Paul? Paging Sir Paul! Wrest back your legacy, sir. Strike while the iron is hot!

onetime2 · 02-12-2004, 04:11 PM

Yeah, we've been hearing that for what a decade now? Interesting that he seems to still do just fine.

Astrocloud · 02-12-2004, 04:47 PM

Relating to the Thread Title... and Flashing back a few years

Quote:

Jackson angers ex-Beatles

Fellow artist who bought publishing rights 'cheapened' songs by using them in adverts

Angella Johnson
Monday November 6, 1995
The Guardian

The three surviving members of the Beatles attack fellow singer Michael Jackson in a magazine article published today for 'cheapening' their work by allowing it to be used in advertising.

Jackson, who bought the publishing rights to the Beatles ' music for £50m in 1985, allows songs to be used in TV commercials for products including Nike trainers. He is thought to have received about $250,000 (about £166,000) for one advert.

They are, not surprisingly, a little miffed and a row has been brewing for some time. George Harrison warned: 'Unless we do something about it, every Beatles song is going to end up advertising bras and pork pies.'

He was backed by Paul McCartney, who said Jackson - with whom he recorded two singles in the 1980s, Say Say and The Girl Is Mine - had 'cheapened' the songs released.

The bitter comments are made in the latest edition of Elle magazine, just ahead of the release of the Beatles Anthology album this month, which will feature the first new tracks for a quarter of a century.

McCartney was outbid by Jackson for the rights and is said to still be furious at his refusal either to sell them back or, more gallingly, to increase his royalties, despite stories that Yoko Ono has re-negotiated the share due to her late husband, John Lennon.

It is perhaps an even more painful pill to swallow because, as he reveals in a book, McCartney: Yesterday And Today, by Ray Coleman, that it was he who advised Jackson, at a lunch party given by singer and actor Adam Faith, to get into publishing.

The 4,000-song ATV catalogue includes over 159 Lennon-McCartney Northern Songs gems and almost 100 other Beatles compositions. The group own neither their greatest compositions nor their most treasured recordings.

Despite the row, Jackson sees himself as a custodian of the great recordings of the 1960s, and recently blocked a rap album of Beatles' songs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/thebeatles...606544,00.html

Aletheia · 02-12-2004, 06:46 PM

He pulled a MC Hammer.

japhyryder · 02-13-2004, 10:22 AM

sooner he is broke the better he need to get slapped hard with a ton of reality

ratbastid · 02-13-2004, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lebell
No sympathy here either, for anyone who can't limit him/herself to 1.5 million dollars a month.

And that's just his facial maintenance budget!!

Had to be said. You know you were thinking it.

present_future · 02-13-2004, 01:37 PM

I have no sympathy whatsoever for him.

Apparently, in Neverland, money grows on trees.

merkerguitars · 02-13-2004, 04:49 PM

He's deserves it...even the rich need to make a budget.....I sure hope paul does buy the songs back.......then the rightful owner would have them

mystmarimatt · 02-15-2004, 12:56 AM

and i bet he can get a premium price for them, too.

02-12-2004, 11:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
Holo A Real American	NO sympathy. Sorry, but if he wouldn't have blown millions on a theme park and all that other shit he'd have money. This goes for all rich ppl not just him. If you spend extravagantly and then get caught short you deserve to fall. __________________ I happen to like the words "fuck", "cock", "pussy", "tits", "cunt", "twat", "shit" and even "bitch". As long as I am not using them to describe you, don't go telling me whether or not I can/should use them...that is, if you want me to continue refraining from using them to describe you. ~Prince

02-12-2004, 11:16 AM	#3 (permalink)
gabshu Psycho Location: The capital of the free world??	Agreed __________________ Go Kool Aid. OH YEAAHH http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2003/koolaid/

02-12-2004, 11:17 AM	#4 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	No sympathy here either, for anyone who can't limit him/herself to 1.5 million dollars a month. __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!

02-12-2004, 02:01 PM	#6 (permalink)
clifclav absolute relativist Location: D.C.	Fitgerald: The rich are very different from you and I Ernest. Hemingway: Yeah, they have more money. Or something like that. I sometimes feel dirty for having bought one of his records a long time ago. __________________ Neither rain , nor cold, nor dark of night shall.......ahh whatever, just get me a beer!

02-12-2004, 02:07 PM	#7 (permalink)
Halx Please touch this. Owner/Admin Location: Manhattan	"Michael Jackson faces cash crisis" I read that as.. "Michael Jackson's face crashes" and to quote Patrick Ewing, "We make a lot of money, but we spend a lot also." __________________ You have found this post informative. -The Administrator [Don't Feed The Animals]

02-12-2004, 03:10 PM	#9 (permalink)
Tophat665 Minion of the scaléd ones Location: Northeast Jesusland	Damn! A silver lining! Whodahthunkit? Sir Paul? Paging Sir Paul! Wrest back your legacy, sir. Strike while the iron is hot! __________________ Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

02-12-2004, 04:11 PM	#10 (permalink)
onetime2 Junkie Location: NJ	Yeah, we've been hearing that for what a decade now? Interesting that he seems to still do just fine. __________________ Strive to be more curious than ignorant.

02-12-2004, 06:46 PM	#12 (permalink)
Aletheia Psycho	He pulled a MC Hammer.

02-13-2004, 10:22 AM	#13 (permalink)
japhyryder no one special Location: Charlotte, NC	sooner he is broke the better he need to get slapped hard with a ton of reality __________________ It's only entertainment, someone's sick idea of a joke.

02-13-2004, 01:37 PM	#15 (permalink)
present_future Take my hand Location: Everywhere, but nowhere	I have no sympathy whatsoever for him. Apparently, in Neverland, money grows on trees. __________________ The only thing I'll ever ask of you... you gotta promise not to stop when I say when.

02-13-2004, 04:49 PM	#16 (permalink)
merkerguitars Buffering......... Location: Wisconsin...	He's deserves it...even the rich need to make a budget.....I sure hope paul does buy the songs back.......then the rightful owner would have them __________________ Donate now! Ask me How! Please use the search function it is your friend. Look at my mustang please feel free to comment! http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=26985

02-15-2004, 12:56 AM	#17 (permalink)
mystmarimatt Omnipotent Ruler Of The Tiny Universe In My Mind Location: Oreegawn	and i bet he can get a premium price for them, too. __________________ Words of Wisdom: If you could really get to know someone and know that they weren't lying to you, then you would know the world was real. Because you could agree on things, you could compare notes. That must be why people get married or make Art. So they'll be able to really know something and not go insane.