No, it wasn’t a stock offering. He securitized the cash flow from his full song book. So he issues a bond for $50 mio, it’s paid down to zero over a fixed number of years from the cash flow/income of his royalties. So he just gets the value up feont then when the bond matures he can do another.
Came here to say this. Letterman was a fun host but a lazy interviewer. Bowie basically sold bonds paid through his catalog sales while maintaining his long term ownership of his publishing rights, getting money up front for what his catalog would generate. It was an extremely savvy move, not sure whether it was his idea or one of his managers, but it worked brilliantly. There have been a few similar moves since but to make it work you need to have full rights and demonstrate long term sales, not very many artists will be able to make it work. Bowie deserves credit for his financial acumen (or hiring those with it) as for his musical and stylistic genius.
@@mattm56 Seems like something a business manager would come up with. I'd imagine for this type of appearance they weren't going to get into all the nuts & bolts of his finances, ha.
