From the "Money (That's What I Want)" file:

Last week, rumor had it that a New York hedge fund might end up owning the Beatles song catalog. According to an article from last Wednesday's New York Times, Michael Jackson has a $70 million loan from the Bank of America that comes due tomorrow. If he defaults, the bank ends up with the catalog. However, Jackson's financial consultants are working to extend the loan until 2005 with the backing of an undisclosed hedge fund, which would take possession of the catalog if Jackson doesn't repay (which seems like a plausible scenario at this point). As this article from a hedge fund industry rag notes, this would leave the Beatles catalog in the hands of a shady group of arbitrageurs and speculators, which I'm sure is exactly what John would have wanted.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it turns out that the truth is somewhat less colorful: only the Jackson catalog, which is worth perhaps $70 million, is collateral for his particular loan. The Beatles catalog, which is worth more like $900 million, isn't at stake. So at worst, some hedge fund will end up with the rights to "Smooth Criminal" and "Remember the Time," which is probably a cultural travesty of some kind, but which falls well short of a sign of the coming apocalypse.

(I don't think that this is my company, by the way. On the other hand, they don't tell me anything around here.)