Después de una batalla legal de seis años, la herencia del fallecido músico Prince será repartida únicamente en algunos de sus familiares sobrevivientes, tras haber llegado finalmente a un acuerdo sobre la división de los activos.
El intérprete de ‘Let’s go crazy’ murió en 2016, a los 57 años, por una sobredosis de fentanilo, por lo que no dejó estipulado un testamento sobre lo que pasaría con sus bienes, que ascendían a 156.4 millones de dólares. Desde entonces, su compañía disquera y sus hermanos se enfrascaron en una disputa que por fin ha llegado a su fin.
Ahora, de acuerdo con el sitio The Blast, los beneficiarios del cantante se repartirán únicamente menos de 6 millones de dólares. Así lo explican los documentos judiciales: “Exceptuando la Reserva y después de los pagos establecidos en el párrafo 8 de este documento, la propiedad del difunto que se distribuirá consiste en 5.638.878,29 dólares en efectivo”.
El dinero será dividido entre los tres hermanos mayores de Prince y la compañía musical Primary Wave, que compró parte del patrimonio de la estrella a la hermana del cantante de ‘Raspberry Beret’, Tyka Nelson, y a los hermanos Alfred Jackson y Omarr Baker.
Alfred y otro hermano, John R. Nelson, fallecieron durante la batalla legal, por lo que sus familias no recibirán nada del reparto final.
In addition, Comerica Bank — which has overseen both the administration of Prince’s estate and the legal battle surrounding it — will retain a $3 million reserve as a preventative measure to fight any legal matters related to the estate that have not yet been completed.
The documents read: “Comerica will retain a total of $3 million as a reserve to ensure that it can pay the costs and expenses associated with closing the estate, including the preparation of tax returns, professional fees, expenses and any adjudications filed in pending litigation related to the estate, expenses previously incurred by the estate for which it has not received invoices and any other necessary expenses.”
A Primary Wave spokesperson said the company is “extremely pleased that the process of closing Prince’s estate has been completed.”
He added in a statement to Billboard: “Prince was an iconic superstar and this transfer out of court puts in place a professional and skilled management.”
“When we announced last year the acquisition of the additional stakes in the estate, bringing our stake to 50%, our goal was to protect and grow Prince’s unparalleled legacy. With the distribution of the assets of the estate, we hope to maintain a strong and productive working relationship.”
Advisers L. Londell McMillan and Charles Spicer, who control an undisclosed stake in the estate and are associated with Prince’s three heirs who refused to sell their share, are “relieved and delighted” that the long-running dispute is over.
McMillan said, “[My partners and I] are relieved and delighted to finally be done with the Probate Court system and with bankers who don’t know the music business and didn’t know Prince. [We want] to carry things out the way Prince did.”
He continued: “I represented Prince for over 13 years and we are innovatively leading the reform of the music industry – we look forward to doing the same with his incredible assets and catalogue, from his music, film content, exhibitions, merchandise, Paisley Park events, branded products and more. It is a historic and very exciting moment. Prince is almost free to rest now.”
With more than four decades of career, Prince sold more than 150 million records around the world and was awarded seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and even an Oscar thanks to his work on the soundtrack of the film ‘Purple Rain’, in which he had a brief participation under the performance of Albert Magnoli.
