When Michael Jackson died in June 2009, he was roughly half a billion dollars in debt. Neverland Ranch was nearly foreclosed. Banks were circling. By all accounts, his financial empire was on the verge of collapse. But decades earlier, Jackson had made a move that would change everything. In the early 80s, while collaborating with Paul McCartney, the Beatle told him the real money in music wasn't records, it was publishing rights. Jackson listened. In 1985, when the ATV music catalog hit the market, containing the rights to over 4,000 songs including most of The Beatles' greatest hits, Jackson outbid McCartney himself and bought it for $47.5 million. It cost him their friendship, but it saved his legacy. After his death, his estate used that catalog as collateral to wipe out every cent of debt. In 2016, Sony paid $750 million for the ATV stake. In 2024, another $600 million for a 50 percent stake in his own masters and publishing. His estate has now earned an estimated $3.5 billion since his passing, including $105 million in the last year alone. Almost 17 years after his death, Michael Jackson is still the highest paid musician on Earth #hosted #pubity #viral