Record-breaking Michael Jackson, Sony buys half of the catalog - Music. 600 million dollars to the heirs, top for a single musician.
Jackson's entire catalog was valued at between 1.2 and 1.5 billion dollars. The package for Jackson would include, in addition to the lyrics of his songs and the music he recorded, also tracks by other artists purchased by his MiJac publishing group including songs by Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis and Aretha Franklin. The 1982 album Thriller is still one of the top two best-sellers of all time.