Deals made by Prince's estate deepen divide among heirs

The estate of Prince, the pop star who died unexpectedly last April without leaving a will, has made three licensing deals with Universal Music Group in the past six months. All three agreements were negotiated by the advisers in charge of deal making for the estate: Prince's former lawyer Londell McMillan and entertainment executive Charles Koppelman. McMillan and Koppelman each made about $3 million from the deals,

the

Wall Street Journal

reported.

The interim administrator submitted only one deal for the rights to Prince's unreleased music — the one with Universal — to the court overseeing Prince's estate, although Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group had also expressed interest in acquiring the rights, the

Journal

article said. “Sony Music executives were excluded from bidding despite repeated attempts to engage with the estate,” and Warner Music, which had released Prince's first 18 albums, “also voiced interest but received minimal information in response,” the article said.

“The process has deepened the divide between the artist's six heirs, who splintered into two groups following the artist's death,” the

Journal

reported.

McMillan is acting as a business adviser to three of the heirs. Two of the other heirs are represented by an advisory team that includes CNN political commentator Van Jones, a former adviser to Prince. These two heirs filed suit in January claiming that McMillan had been prioritizing his own interests over those of the estate, the

Journal

article said. McMillan denies the charges. (Source:

Wall Street Journal

, March 29, 2017.)