Michael Jackson (70 page)

Michael intended to deliver
Decade
to the Sony Corporation, CBS Records’ parent company, in August of 1989. It was scheduled to be released in November in time
for the Christmas sales rush.

‘I want more money than anyone else has ever gotten,’ Michael told John when the attorney began negotiating with CBS Records
for the new album. John did not let him down. He arranged an eighteen million dollar advance, which was, indeed, ‘more money
than anyone else has ever gotten’. The deal included a fifteen million dollar straight advance – which CBS would recoup from
Jackson’s royalties before he would make a profit on the album – and a non-recoupable three million dollars which was a gift
for Michael from his label. (On each of the three album deals John Branca negotiated for Michael Jackson at CBS he succeeded
in getting for Michael three million as a bonus.)

Prior to the latest Michael Jackson deal, the Rolling Stones, who were also represented by John Branca, held the record for
the most lucrative contract, with five-million-dollars-plus per album. According to the
Hollywood Reporter
, Billy Joel had $1.7 million as an advance at the time, Bruce Springsteen $2.5 million, and Madonna $1 million before bonuses,
which could make it several times that.

Michael Jackson’s album royalty was forty-one points. What that means in terms of percentage of retail sale varies with each
formula, from CD to tape to disc; however, the album came to approximately 25 per cent of the retail price of each record.
Michael’s 25 per cent translated to $2.50 per album sold. However, when the three-million-dollar non-recoupable gift was added
to Michael’s royalty rate, it actually jumped to about 29 per cent of retail.

To put Jackson’s royalty into perspective, Madonna made 18 per cent at the time. Most other acts of superstar status made
12 per cent.

In its entirety, Michael’s new deal with CBS would be worth as much as fifty million dollars because, in addition to the advance
and non-recoupable gift, John Branca had negotiated a joint business venture with the company. According to that arrangement,
CBS would finance a custom label for Michael Jackson – a subsidiary of CBS Records which would be Jackson Records (shades of
Joseph!) – which Michael would oversee. CBS would provide 100 per cent of the funding for the new label, and then split the
profit equally with Michael. He would also own half the stock and thereby be entitled to half the assets if the label was
ever sold. This was a coup for Michael and still yet another tribute to John Branca’s masterly negotiating skills.

Since Janet Jackson had constantly called upon her brother for advice and guidance, John felt that she would be the most logical
choice as first artist to sign to the label. Michael was elated at the possibility. (It didn’t happen, though. Instead, Janet
signed a contract with Virgin Records for an estimated thirty-two million dollars. When finalized, in March 1991, it was said
to be the largest recording contract in history, but these deals are always said to be just that. There’s always a way to
calculate ambiguous figures and money not yet earned but projected in such a way to make any decent, big-money record deal
‘the largest in history’.)

In the final
coup de grâce
for Michael, as far as
Decade
was concerned, John Branca negotiated a five-million-dollar advance from Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corporation, the Warner
Bros. publishing arm that administers the copyrights on Jackson’s songs. (Michael owns all of his copyrights. Warner-Tamerlane
has no ownership, but, for a small fee, the company does collect money generated by publishing deals around the world involving
his compositions.) For an artist, five million dollars is a huge advance from a music publishing company; most superstars
get about one million.

All of the pieces of the puzzle were in place for a tremendous
Decade
kick-off. However, by January 1990, it was obvious that Michael would fail to deliver
Decade
. He was ambivalent about the format, there was some confusion as to which songs to include on it. The original plan was for
the package to consist of four cuts from
Off the Wall
, seven from
Thriller
, six from
Bad
, three to five new songs, ‘State of Shock’ (the hit duet with Mick Jagger); ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Someone in the Dark’ (from
Michael’s
E.T
. narration album), ‘Come Together’ and two vintage Motown songs that Michael was re-mastering. However, Michael kept vacillating
about the plan, and, in the end, his close friend, entertainment mogul David Geffen, finally talked him out of putting out
the album, altogether. Rather, Michael would produce an album of new material. (The deal John Branca negotiated for him at
CBS and with Warner-Tamerlane applied to any product Michael chooses to issue.) Here we go, again, John Branca must have thought.

Though Michael is the sole director of all of his companies, he has an investment committee that meets informally about once
a year to discuss his many investments. In 1990, that committee consisted of John Branca and his partner, Kenneth Ziffren;
Jackson’s accountant, Marshall Gelfand; John Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company (which publishes
Ebony
and
Jet
); and David Geffen. The committee had no real power; Michael could veto any decision five minutes after it has been made.

None of the members pocketed any money from investments made on Michael’s behalf. Mostly, the committee was formed by Michael
so that these powerful men would be well acquainted with one another and be able to follow one another’s activities throughout
the year. Michael believes in having his associates watching over one another to see who may be taking advantage of him. Because
his investments are so fascinating – and because it seems an honour for these gentlemen to be involved, even if it does not
mean a personal profit for them – Michael has no difficulty in organizing such an investment committee.

In recent months, David Geffen, who had been a member of the investment committee for about ten years, had begun to exert
great influence over Michael. At one point, Michael had signed a development deal with David’s production company to do a
film. David’s task was to procure a script that would meet with Michael’s approval. However, the two couldn’t agree on one.
(Michael still wants to do a movie that would be a fantastic, big-budget combination of
Star Wars
and Busby Berkeley.)

It’s easy to see why Michael – a man who is most impressed by wealth and power – would be enamoured of David Geffen. In its 24
December 1990, issue,
Forbes
dubbed David, ‘the richest man in Hollywood’ and, indeed, he probably was then, and still is, today with an estimated worth
of over $100 million.

David has a reputation as being shrewd and savvy, an intuitive show-business genius who knows when to buy and, just as important,
when to sell. He is intelligent and witty. He can also be temperamental, and is considered by some associates to be conceited
and arrogant. Over the years, David earned a respectable reputation in the music world (with his Geffen Records) and film
world, producing movies that were distributed by Warner Bros., including
Risky Business
and
Beetlejuice
. In addition, he made money in the theatre, co-producing the Broadway hit
Dreamgirls
with Michael Bennett and helping to finance Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
Cats
.

Michael admired David’s business savvy and vision. ‘Michael told me he thinks David is the most amazing man he has ever met,’
said a Jackson associate. ‘He felt that if he listened to David’s advice, he, too, could become a mogul, like David. He hung
on to his every word the way he used to hang on to John Branca’s. Unlike Branca, though, Geffen really kissed up to Mike,
flattered him constantly. He and David became extremely close in many ways. Not only did they have a professional relationship,
they also had a close personal relationship. David was the one who told him that
Decade
was a mediocre idea and that Michael shouldn’t waste his time on it. He convinced Mike to do an album of new material, and
Michael agreed. So, obviously, John Branca is not a fan of David Geffen’s.’

There was some talk that Michael would hire Quincy Jones for the new project. However, Michael no longer wanted to work with
Quincy because he felt that the producer had become too possessive of him and his work, and had taken too much credit for
it. Michael was still miffed that Quincy gave him a tough time about ‘Smooth Criminal’ – Quincy didn’t want it on the
Bad
album. For Quincy’s part, he felt that Michael had become too demanding and inflexible. With emotions running so high, the
partnership that had once sold millions and millions of albums had soured. Still, Quincy figured he would work with Michael,
again. He was never informed otherwise. Michael just began work without him; he hasn’t worked with Quincy since
Bad
.

David Geffen had obtained all of Michael’s financial information – it is quite possible that Michael gave him the documents – and
started discussing with him his relationship with CBS Records. He pointed out to Michael that he had spent about forty million
dollars making music videos for
Bad
(including the cost of
Moonwalker
), an exorbitant amount to spend on video production. David was right about that. However, John Branca had made back an enormous
amount of money for Michael on these videos as a result of distribution and other sales deals, and Michael’s net loss was
‘only’ ten million dollars. Practically no one in the record industry makes thirty million dollars from music videos. But,
still, Michael began to believe that CBS Records was making more money on him and his videos than he was making for himself.
Soon, he was riled up enough to want to leave CBS altogether.

Prior to this time, Walter Yetnikoff and Michael Jackson had had an outstanding relationship. Michael brought him up on to
the stage during the 1984 Grammys. Walter was appreciative and felt that Michael’s public show of gratitude helped him earn
millions of dollars for himself and his label. ‘You don’t bring record executives up at the Grammys, ’cause no one’s interested,’
Yetnikoff told
Rolling Stone
in 1988. ‘I went back to CBS and I said, “Give me another two million dollars for that.”’

Walter Yetnikoff had been one of the most powerful men in the record business for many years. By 1990 his line-up of superstar
recording artists included Michael, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. But his power had slipped during
the year due to a deteriorating relationship with CBS Records’ new parent company, Sony, and, in part, to his estrangement
from Bruce Springsteen and Springsteen’s attorney, John Landau. Now, without Michael Jackson in his corner, Yetnikoff’s future
looked cloudy.

By 1990, Janet Jackson had come into her own with the biggest success of her career, the A&M album
Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814
, a string of hit records – ‘Miss You Much’, ‘Escapade’, ‘Rhythm Nation’, among others – and her first national tour. Charming
and timid, talented and driven, Janet has turned out to be one of the better-adjusted Jackson siblings. With the exception
of a relationship she maintains with her mother, she keeps her distance from the rest of the family. Though she is no longer
managed by Joseph – the break was predictably volatile – he does profit from
Rhythm Nation
.

‘I’ve studied the best – Michael Jackson,’ Janet said in April 1990. ‘I’m not saying that just because he’s my brother. I really
feel he’s the best. I saw how hard he works, his ambition. It’s so strange to read things about him, because people just don’t
understand Michael much.’

Janet also noted, ‘Michael has said that, out of everyone in the family, we’re the two that think the most alike.’ Janet is
the only family member who makes it a point to show up at the taping of Michael’s videos, just so that she can sit and watch
him work. Still, she has to admit that a rivalry does exist between them. ‘He’s very competitive,’ she said in November 1990.
‘And so am I.’