The whole music collection of Justin Bieber was auctioned for USD $200 million. According to Rolling Stone, the pop artist gave the Hipgnosis Songs Fund the rights to his songs. The sizable agreement covers 290 of his works that will be released by December 21, 2021. Therefore, the British investment and song management firm owns all of those beloved classics, such as “Baby,” “Love Me”, and even “Boyfriend”!

Leaving a Legacy

With this agreement, Hipgnosis has acquired a 100% interest in the publishing rights and the artist’s portion of the income from the 28-year-master old’s recordings, which are still owned by Universal Music Group. Additionally, they are entitled to neighboring rights, which apply to any public performances of his music. Following the announcement of the contract, Scooter Braun, Bieber’s longtime manager, said through CNN:  “Justin is truly a once in a generation artist and that is reflected and acknowledged by the magnitude of this deal. For 15 years I have been grateful to witness this journey and today I am happy for all those involved. Justin’s greatness is just beginning.”

From a Business Perspective

Bieber joins a lengthy line of musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Motley Crue, Sting, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have lately sold their libraries. Bieber is the biggest musician traded for in his generation, surpassing Springsteen, whose catalog was sold for an estimated $550 million. If you have something that’s popular, everyone wants to get in on it, according to Cynthia Katz of the legal firm Fox Rothschild, which has handled infamous deals like the sale of Motley Crue to BMG.

Taylor Swift, meanwhile, has chosen a totally different path. In 2019, after Big Machine Records, unknowing to her, sold her masters to her adversary Scooter Braun, the singer fought valiantly to regain creative control, even re-recording six of her first studio albums. She admitted that she made an attempt to repurchase them before the agreement with Braun was signed. Of course, not every singer is in to doing all the same the others do, but there lies the greatness of it all as money is always a powerful tool. A strategic move for singers, but it would be up to them to handle it all and prove their business prowess too!

Sebastian Stan, who is most known for playing Bucky Barnes, or the Winter Soldier, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has developed a bit of a reputation in recent years for being essentially a perfect clone of a young Luke Skywalker. When you compare the two side by side, their similarities are startling. Mark Hamill himself has chimed in on the topic in the past, suggesting that Stan could easily be his kid.

What Could Be

So it seems sense that there has been constant pressure for Stan to portray a young Luke Skywalker at some time in the future. Face swaps, alterations, and fan art abound, making it obvious that the actor is well aware of how much the fans want to see him in the part. The higher-ups at Disney must have have seen the demand by this point, and fans have been really keen on showing the many possibilities on what can happen.

All The Possibilities

It was brought up in a recent interview with Esquire whether or not we may ever see our dreams come true, and he is technically not saying no:  “Look, it’s really kind. Never say never. Mark Hamill is my father, you know, and he knows that, and I call him every Christmas to tell him, ‘just want you to know I’m around,’” he stated.

Thanks to technology, Hamill was still able to appear in The Mandalorian as a younger version of Skywalker, but there’s only so much that can be done without it seeming completely ludicrous, so it’s by no means a long-term fix. We’ll have to keep to the face swaps for the time being since there are obviously no current formal intentions to cast Stan in the part, or at least none that can be disclosed at this point.

This isn’t the first time Stan has responded to the demand; in a Good Morning America interview from last March, given to promote The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he was asked if it was possible that the request would be granted. He replied, “If Mark Hamill calls me personally to tell me that he feels inclined to share this role with me then I’ll believe it,” when asked if it was possible.

Usain Bolt’s attorneys claim that the Olympic champion lost about $12 million from an account that was supposed to help him pay for his retirement. The 36-year-old had deposited the cash in a Stocks and Securities Ltd. account in Kingston, but on January 18, his attorney asserted that only approximately $12,000 remained of the millions that had been there. According to Linton P. Gordon, Bolt’s life savings were in the account, but since the money vanished, regulators have not gotten in touch with either him or Bolt.

A Huge Surprise

The day before Gordon revealed the money had vanished, the Jamaican Financial Services Commission announced that, in response to concerns of fraud claims, it had appointed its own temporary manager to the investment firm. A copy of the letter Gordon wrote Stocks & Securities Limited on January 16 demanding the money be returned within 10 days or the company will face civil and criminal action was made available to the Associated Press by Gordon.

Quite the Odd Occurrence

As the Jamaican Financial Services Commission continues to look into the company, Stocks & Securities Limited requests on its website that customers direct any questions to the commission. Earlier this month, Stocks & Securities Limited disclosed that it had learned of the alleged scam and stated that several of its clients may be missing millions of dollars. Nigel Clarke, the finance minister for Jamaica, noted that although the situation was concerning, it was also quite exceptional.

NIgel Clarke had then stated: “It is tempting to doubt our financial institutions, but I would ask that we don’t paint an entire hard working industry with the brush of a few very dishonest individuals.”  While the Financial Services Commission conducts its investigation, the company is permitted to continue operations, but all transactions require government authorization. After setting world records in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4×100-meter relay events, Bolt ended his athletic career in 2017.