Subsequently, Jackson increased its worth by acquiring the publishing rights to many more songs. ATV Music Publishing, owner of over 4,000 songs, was said to have had 1993 revenues of $30 million, yielding a fair market value of more than $300 million in the early 1990's. ATV owns the copyrights to songs by the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Lloyd Price, and the Pointer Sisters, among others. A song earns money for its composer and copyright owner each time it sells on a recorded format, is played on the radio or covered by another artist. The copyright owner can license the songs to movie studios and advertisers for considerable money.

Michael Jackson merged ATV Music Publishing Company with Sony Music Publishing in 1995. This yielded the hugely successful company now called Sony/ATV Music Publishing which is the third-largest music publishing company in the world. Michael retains 50% ownership of the new company and received nearly $110 million dollars from Sony for the merger. It remains true that ATV owns 100% of the rights to most of its songs (including the Beatles songs), whereas Sony's income arises from co-publishing or administration.

Sony/ATV is worth an estimated $1 billion, having, in addition to the ATV catalog, publishing relationships with such artists as Bob Dylan, Nile Rogers, Mariah Carey, Neil Diamond, and Conway Twitty. Sony/ATV is directed by Sony and a board of directors drawn equally from Sony and Michael Jackson representatives.

The ATV songs were managed by EMI Music Publishing until 1998 and thereafter managed by Sony/ATV. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson's own songs, which belong to his Mijac Music Publishing, are controlled separately and are still managed by by Warner Chappell or Warner Tamerlane.

Michael Jackson's fortune is, therefore, secure and thriving. The unanswered question is whether Michael Jackson is turning over his financial empire to an extremist cult which has precious little business experience and no proven track record in finance. It is well within the range of possibilities that the hacks within the extremist cult could dissipate Michael Jordan's money in a matter of months. Time will tell.

Gary Wolfstone practices law in full compliance with the highest order of ethical standards. Mr. Wolfstone's gold standard is full disclosure to clients, integrity in pursuing financial recovery for clients, and making it clear to clients that he insists upon his client's co-operation and truthfulness in support of attorney-client collaboration seeking compassion and justice. Mr. Wolfstone received a letter recently from the WSBA (Washington State Bar Association) congratulating him on his 50 years of bar membership. The bar association said that they value and applaud the service that Mr. Wolfstone has provided to the people of Washington State throughout his career. The bar association letter said that Mr. Wolfstone's long-time commitment to expanding justice and promoting the rule of law is exemplary.