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Michael Jackson's estate is planning to sell the rights to his catalogs. According to Consequence of Sound, the estate will sell "half of their interests in Jackson’s discography" for a fee that might end up breaking a record. The catalogs will be sold for anywhere between $800 to $900 million dollars, and there might already be a major music publishing company interested in purchasing the assets. Sony Music Publishing is allegedly negotiating with the estate for 50% of the King of Pop's income sources.
Variety mentioned that the supposed sale will include half of the rights to Jackson's recorded music venues, publishing, an upcoming biopic, and “MJ: The Musical,” on Broadway. Sony was Jackson's record label for many years. The publishing company even embarked on a "solo venture" with Jackson in 1995 to form "Sony/ATV Music Publishing" which Consequence of Sound noted to include Jackson's share of The Beatles catalog.
Sony is no stranger to purchasing legendary music catalogs. In recent years, they have purchased both Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen's catalogs for a combined total of nearly $800 million. If Jackson's catalogs are sold for asking price, they will be the largest sale to date, topping artists such as Genesis at $300 million, and Bruce Springsteen at $600 million.