Michael Jackson Estate Wins Ruling Approving $600M Sony Sale — Over His Mother’s Objections

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A California appeals court has issued a final ruling that Michael Jackson’s estate can proceed with a $600 million sale of the singer’s catalog to Sony Music, rejecting objections from his mother that aimed to block the deal.

A month after the appeals court issued a tentative ruling against Katherine Jackson, the court finalized that decision on Wednesday – ruling that the estate’s executors (John Branca and John McClain) didn’t violate the terms of Michael’s will when they inked the gargantuan deal with Sony.

“The will gave the executors broad powers of sale, with no exception for the specific assets at issue in this case,” the court wrote. “As such, [a lower judge] did not err in concluding that it was Michael’s intent to allow the executors to sell any estate assets, including those at issue in the proposed transaction.”

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Legal News
08/21/2024
Michael Jackson Estate Wins Ruling Approving $600M Sony Sale — Over His Mother’s Objections
Katherine Jackson claimed the huge sale "violated Michael's wishes," but an appeals court says the superstar's will gave his executors "broad powers" to ink such deals.


By Bill Donahue

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Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson performs in concert circa 1986. Kevin Mazur/WireImage
A California appeals court has issued a final ruling that Michael Jackson’s estate can proceed with a $600 million sale of the singer’s catalog to Sony Music, rejecting objections from his mother that aimed to block the deal.

A month after the appeals court issued a tentative ruling against Katherine Jackson, the court finalized that decision on Wednesday – ruling that the estate’s executors (John Branca and John McClain) didn’t violate the terms of Michael’s will when they inked the gargantuan deal with Sony.

“The will gave the executors broad powers of sale, with no exception for the specific assets at issue in this case,” the court wrote. “As such, [a lower judge] did not err in concluding that it was Michael’s intent to allow the executors to sell any estate assets, including those at issue in the proposed transaction.”

Beyond the merits of the deal, the court also rejected Katherine’s appeal for a simpler reason: that she had “forfeited” her arguments by failing to make them before a lower probate court.

Katherine’s attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment. She can still appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court, though her odds of overturning the ruling are low.

As reported by Billboard earlier this year, the Jackson estate and Sony Music have reached a deal that will see the music giant buy half of the singer’s publishing and recorded masters catalog for more than $600 million.

But because the Jackson estate is still pending before a Los Angeles probate court more than 15 years after his 2009 death, his executors took the then-confidential deal to Judge Mitchell Beckloff for approval. When they did so, Katherine filed objections — among them that the sale “violated Michael’s wishes” and that the catalog would likely continue to gain value over time if retained.

In April 2023, Beckloff rejected those objections and ruled that the deal could move forward. Katherine then filed an appeal, resulting in Wednesday’s ruling.

In the new decision, the court rejected a number of key arguments from Katherine, including her claim that the sale would violate basic inheritance rules because it would prevent all of Michael’s assets from being transferred to his heirs. In doing so, the court said Michael’s will vested Branca and McClain with “full power and authority” to make such deals while in control of the estate.

“The proposed transaction is not a gift or distribution of estate assets—it is an asset sale, pursuant to which the estate receives a significant monetary payment and interest in a joint venture,” the court wrote. “While the proposed transaction will result in the estate exchanging assets for cash and other valuable rights, it neither diminishes the estate’s value nor impairs the executors’ future ability to transfer the estate’s assets to the trust.”

The wrangling over the Sony deal has exposed rifts among Jackson’s heirs. In March, Jackson’s son Blanket asked the judge to stop his grandmother from using estate money to fund her efforts to block the Sony deal. Though both had initially opposed the sale, Blanket and Jackson’s other children accepted the probate judge’s decision allowing it to move forward.

Later that same week, the estate responded to claims from Katherine’s attorneys that she needed estate money to pay for her legal battle, arguing she had received more than $55 million since the singer’s death. The estate’s executors argued that “virtually no request of Mrs. Jackson for her care or maintenance has been declined,” including more than $33 million in cash.

A rep for the estate’s executors declined to comment on Wednesday’s ruling.

https://www.billboard.com/pro/micha...ET2NpDUV3j_cW4LcOY_aem_KiLg8tvVgwbbJYca8ivxbQ

 

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Katherine Jackson's Latest Appeal Denied in Ongoing Legal Battle over Michael Jackson's Estate​

Story by Rachel DeSantis, Danielle Bacher

https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/cel...jacksons-estate/ar-AA1pd82J?ocid=BingNewsVerp

A Los Angeles court ruled that Katherine Jackson's arguments against a proposed transaction don't hold water.

After nearly two years of legal back-and-forth over Michael Jackson’s estate, a Los Angeles court has sided with the King of Pop’s estate co-executors, effectively shutting down his mother Katherine’s repeated objections to a proposed catalog sale with a hefty price tag.

Katherine, 94, had
filed multiple objections after attorney John Branca and A&R executive John McClain, the co-executors of Michael’s estate and trustees of the Michael Jackson Family Trust, received a favorable ruling last year in probate court that allowed them to move forward with a reported $600 million sale of half of Michael’s music catalog to Sony.

In court documents filed on Wednesday, Aug. 21 and obtained by PEOPLE, Katherine’s latest appeal was denied, as her contentions “lack merit” and were not previously made to the probate court that approved the transaction, and because a review found that the transaction does not violate the terms of the trust.

Attorneys for Katherine declined to comment when reached by PEOPLE.

The Jackson family matriarch had also argued that before his death in 2009, Michael had told family members that he wanted to keep the estate assets in the family in perpetuity. But according to the new documents, that argument doesn’t hold water, as it’s Michael’s intent as expressed in his will that ultimately controls what happens.

“Here, the will gave the executors broad powers of sale, with no exception for the specific assets at issue in this case,” the court filing says. “As such, the probate court did not err in concluding that it was Michael’s intent to allow the executors to sell any estate assets, including those at issue in the proposed transaction.”

Per Michael’s will, his entire estate was to be given to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, the beneficiaries of which are his three children Prince, 27, Paris, 26, and Bigi, 22, as well as unnamed charities.

Katherine is a life beneficiary of a portion of a sub-trust, which allows the trustees to distribute as much to the sub-trust as they deem necessary; in Katherine’s case, she’s given money for her “care, support, maintenance, comfort and well-being,” according to the filing. When she dies, any assets that were set aside for her will be passed to the kids’ share of the trust.
Though the estate has yet to be distributed to the trust due to disputes with the IRS, per the filing, Branca and McClain were authorized by a probate court in 2019 to continue to operate Michael’s businesses.

In November 2022, they filed a petition to approve the proposed Sony transaction, which was ultimately granted — despite Katherine’s objections. In challenging the sale, she claimed that the assets were valuable, and would appreciate over time, and that the estate didn’t need the cash the sale would bring in. She did, however, agree that the probate court could grant Branca and McClain permission to make the sale if they wanted, something noted in Wednesday’s filing.