Bowie Remembered For IP Prowess

David Bowie, who died this week after a battle with cancer, is being remembered by the business community for an innovative maneuver with his intellectual property. In 1997, with the help of banker David Pullman, Bowie sold the rights to future royalties from his songs recorded before 1990 to a group of investors, who then issued a 10-year bond. Bowie raised $55 million, but the shift in music revenue as a result of streaming saw the bond downgraded to near junk status in 2004.