雙語新聞:傑克遜一朝榮華 得益於精明投資

【英文原文】

Savvy Deals Aided Jackson's Lavish Lifestyle

摘要：儘管邁克爾•傑克遜(Michael Jackson)的怪癖和大手大腳花錢的方式是出了名的，但他在商業上也有數項明智之舉，否則他早就因奢侈古怪的生活方式而陷入了財務困境。

Despite Michael Jackson's well-earned reputation for eccentricity and free-spending ways, he made several savvy business moves that kept him financially afloat far longer than his lavish and bizarre lifestyle might otherwise have allowed.

At the time of his death, he was attempting to dig himself out of about $500 million in debt. Now, a fresh business drama could play out over his estate.

In 1985, Mr. Jackson paid $47.5 million for ATV Music Publishing, the owner of copyrights to the words and music of 251 Beatles songs, among other compositions.

That proved a shrewd move. In 1995, Mr. Jackson sold half of ATV to Sony Corp. for $150 million, creating Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. The partnership's value grew explosively and likely exceeds $1 billion today.

As his singing career wound down, Mr. Jackson borrowed hundreds of millions of dollars against Sony/ATV and Neverland, his 2,600-acre estate near Santa Barbara, Calif. The loans were passed around among banks and Wall Street firms as Mr. Jackson repeatedly verged on default, only to refinance at even more onerous terms.

One loan, backed by a company that owns the copyrights to songs Mr. Jackson wrote, carried a 16.5% interest rate, according to people with knowledge of the loan.

Still, Mr. Jackson was making approximately $19 million a year at the time of his death, according to three people familiar with his finances, with around $12 million coming from album sales and $7 million generated by his stake in Sony/ATV.

With Mr. Jackson's debt load, even that level of income wasn't enough to keep his finances stable, according to people familiar with them. That is why he agreed to return to the stage in a series of 50 concerts at London's O2 arena that had been planned to kick off next month.

There were other signs that Mr. Jackson was starting to get his finances back in order. Just last week, he rehired John Branca, the high-profile Los Angeles entertainment attorney who struck many of the singer's most lucrative business deals, including the ATV acquisition and the joint venture with Sony.

It is unclear what will happen to Mr. Jackson's tangled finances as his estate is unwound. At one point, according to people familiar with his plans, he had intended to divide his estate among his three children and his mother. It is unclear if that arrangement was subsequently amended.

The stake in Sony/ATV is held in a trust that was designed to protect the singer from creditors. The degree to which Mr. Jackson's assets still exceed his towering liabilities, if at all, could take months to determine, according to people familiar with the situation.

【中文譯文】

儘管邁克爾•傑克遜(Michael Jackson)的怪癖和大手大腳花錢的方式是出了名的，但他在商業上也有數項明智之舉，否則他早就因奢侈古怪的生活方式而陷入了財務困境。

傑克遜在去世前正在努力把自己從約5億美元的負債中拯救出來。現在，針對他的遺產可能上演一部全新的商戰片。

1985年，傑克遜以4,750萬美元的價格買下了ATV Music Publishing。該公司擁有251首“披頭士樂隊”(Beatles)歌曲的詞曲版權，以及其他一些音樂作品的版權。

事實證明，此舉非常明智。1995年，傑克遜把ATV一半的股權賣給了索尼公司(Sony Corp.)，套現1.50億美元，創建了Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC。這個合資公司的價值實現了爆炸性增長，現在很可能超過了10億美元。

隨着傑克遜演唱生涯的結束，他用Sony/ATV和加州聖巴巴拉附近一座2,600英畝的地產“夢幻莊園”(Neverland)作擔保，借款數十億美元。在傑克遜一再瀕臨違約邊緣之際，這些貸款在各個銀行和華爾街公司之間轉來轉去，以更爲苛刻的條款進行再融資。

知情人士說，其中有一筆貸款是由擁有傑克遜創作的歌曲版權的公司擔保，利率爲16.5%。

不過，據三位知情人士說，傑克遜去世前每年大約有1,900萬美元的入帳，其中約有1,200萬美元來自專輯銷售，另外700萬美元來自Sony/ATV的持股。

知情人士說，考慮到傑克遜的負債累累，即便是這個水平的收入也不足以讓他的財務狀況保持穩定。正因爲如此，傑克遜同意重返舞臺，在倫敦的O2 arena舉辦50場演唱會。演唱會原本計劃下個月開始。

還有其他一些跡象顯示傑克遜正開始使自己的財務狀況恢復正常。就在上週，他重新聘用了布蘭卡(John Branca)。此人是洛杉磯娛樂圈內一位有名的代理律師，傑克遜很多最賺錢的商業交易都是由他達成的，包括收購ATV、建立與索尼的合資公司。

隨着傑克遜遺產問題的解決，他亂麻一樣的財務狀況將會怎樣，這不得而知。知情人士透露說，傑克遜曾有一度打算把遺產分給自己的三個孩子和他的母親。目前不清楚這個安排之後是否又修改了。

傑克遜在Sony/ATV的持股由一隻信託管理，設立這隻信託意在保護傑克遜免受債權人的追債。知情人士說，傑克遜的資產將比鉅額負債高多少，抑或是資不抵債，這還要數月時間才能確定。

【詞彙講解】

1. eccentricity n. 古怪行爲；反常

My wife has many eccentricities.
我妻子有很多怪癖。

2. afloat 未處於絕境地，倖存地

His business is facing difficulties, but it is staying afloat.
他的生意遇到一些困難，但還能維持。

3. lavish adj. 過分慷慨的；非常浪費的，太多的

She'd been a bit too lavish with the salt, so the soup didn't taste nice.
她放鹽太多，因而湯的味道不太好。

4. bizarre 怪誕的

They saw a bizarre animal in the lake.
他們在湖中看見一個奇怪的動物。

5. estate 地產，財產；遺產

He owns a large estate in Scotland.
他在蘇格蘭有大量地產。

6. shrewd adj. 機靈的，精明的

He is a shrewd businessman.
他是一個精明的商人。

7. onerous adj. 困難的；沉重的；繁重的

This is the most onerous task I have ever undertaken.
這是我承擔過的最艱鉅的任務。

8. lucrative adj. 獲利多的，賺錢的

She has a lucrative business selling leather goods.
她做皮貨生意, 利潤豐厚。

9. tangled 複雜的

All the figures are tangled up in his mind.
所有的數據他都搞混了。

10. liabilities 債務，負債

The remaining assets of a business after all liabilities have been deducted; net worth.
資產淨值一個企業在扣除了所有的債務後所餘資產。

【詞組講解】

verge on v. 接近於；接近，近乎