John G. Branca

Entertainment transactions

Michael Jackson's estate stands to continue earning tens of millions of dollars each year, long after the late singer's untimely death in June 2009. But at the time, the estate was saddled with about $435 million in debt left over from Jackson's extravagant lifestyle, and even the savviest of managers would have a difficult time returning it to solvency. Branca, Jackson's longtime friend and co-administrator of the singer's will, is on the verge of doing just that a little more than a year after his death. Following lightning-fast deals struck last summer that included merchandise sales, memorabilia tours and a feature film that's earned more than $250 million, Branca and co-administrator John McClain forged a two-record deal with Sony Music Entertainment last spring and also paved the way for two Jackson-themed Cirque de Soleil shows. Branca has succeeded at all this without selling Jackson's lucrative share in a catalog of Beatles songs, which brings in about $19 million each year.