Chapter 6
Buying the Beatles
Michael had been in the music business long enough to know how it worked. Often, the record companies got rich, while the singers and songwriters didn’t. Why? A big part of the money came from owning the rights to the songs. Sure, the singers got paid for each record that they sold. But sometimes, they only got one penny per copy—or less! They couldn’t get rich that way.
The Jackson 5 had never owned the rights to their own songs. For one thing, they hadn’t written them. Besides, Berry Gordy made all his singers sign a contract saying that Motown owned the songs.
The Beatles had the same thing happen to them. They wrote so many great songs—but they had given away the rights. The Beatles made a lot of money from their records and ticket sales to their concerts. They made money from movies and TV. Still, they didn’t own their own songs—and that’s where the big money was.
When Michael met Paul McCartney in 1981, Paul told him a secret. He was buying up the rights to other singers’ big hits. Paul had a list of songs he had bought. He called it his catalog. He was getting rich from owning other people’s music. Paul said Michael should do the same thing. So Michael asked his lawyer, John Branca, to keep an eye out for songs that Michael could buy.
One day in 1984, Branca said a new catalog of songs was for sale—the Beatles’ songs! Michael couldn’t believe it. He wanted that catalog, no matter how much he had to pay for it.
It was going to be tricky, though. What if Paul McCartney wanted to buy his own songs back?
John Branca asked Paul McCartney’s lawyer whether Paul was planning to do that. The lawyer said no—it was too expensive. But Paul didn’t realize that Michael Jackson wanted to buy the Beatles’ songs. If he had known, he might have changed his mind.
Branca offered $30 million for the catalog. Other people bid higher. The price kept going up. Pretty soon, some of the smartest people in New York and Hollywood were telling Michael he was crazy. He was spending way too much money.
Michael didn’t listen. It took a couple of months, but Branca finally won the bidding war. Michael Jackson bought the Beatles’ songs for $47.5 million.
Buying the Beatles’ songs turned out to be the smartest thing Michael ever did. Within ten years, the catalog was worth more than $150 million. It brought in payments of $10 million to Michael each year. Today, it’s worth $1 billion!
Paul McCartney was upset about it, though. He called Michael to talk. After all, they were friends.
Paul said that just like Michael and the Jackson 5, the Beatles had gotten a very bad deal when they were young. Now that Michael owned the songs, would he consider giving the Beatles a better share of the profits?
Michael said no. Even though Michael had a soft voice and shy personality, he was a hard businessman. And to him, this was just a business deal.
