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However, Mr. Jackson's biggest financial obligation remains unresolved. A $300 million loan from Barclays PLC, backed by his 50% stake in Sony/ATV, matures at the end of the year. To secure the loan in 2006, Mr. Jackson appealed for help from Sony, which dispatched two executives to meet him in Dubai and negotiate terms under which it would guarantee the loan.
不過，杰克遜最大的一筆債務還是沒能解決，就是他以Sony/ATV公司50%股權為抵押從巴克萊銀行(Barclays PLC)借來的3億美元，這筆債務將于2010年底到期。2006年，為獲得這筆貸款，杰克遜向索尼公司求助；后者派出兩名高管前往迪拜和杰克遜談判愿意為其貸款提供擔保的條款。
At the time, Mr. Jackson was in danger of defaulting on a $270 million loan held by hedge fund Fortress Investment Group LLC. As part of the agreement under which Barclays ultimately refinanced that debt, Mr. Jackson granted Sony an option to buy half of his stake in the company at any time for a fixed price of $250 million. At the time that was a generous valuation, but Sony/ATV's value has since soared to some $2 billion.
當時，杰克遜欠著Fortress Investment Group LLC的2.7億美元貸款，有可能無法到期償還。作為說服巴克萊銀行最終為這筆債務提供再融資的條件之一，杰克遜賦予索尼公司一個期權，可以在任意時間以2.5億美元的固定價格收購其所持有的Sony/ATV公司股權的一半。在那時候看來，這個價格似乎很高，但Sony/ATV的估值后來飆升到了20億美元左右。
The Jackson estate and Sony have held talks about whether the company will again guarantee a refinancing of the debt backed by Mr. Jackson's Sony/ATV stake. If it won't, the estate could be forced to sell its stake in Sony/ATV at a steep discount, though that would still generate enough cash to wipe out the Barclays loan with hundreds of millions to spare. But Sony may have an incentive to reach a deal on refinancing, because buying out Mr. Jackson's estate would require it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for an asset it already effectively controls.
杰克遜的遺產管理人已與索尼公司洽談多次，看其能否再為這筆債務的再融資進行擔保。如果談判失敗，遺產管理人將被迫以很低的折扣價出售杰克遜持有的Sony/ATV股權，盡管這筆交易將帶來足夠的現金收入，不但足以償付巴克萊的貸款，最后還能剩下好幾億美元。不過，索尼公司可能更愿意達成再融資協議，因為購買杰克遜持有的這部分股權，意味著要為其早已有效控股的資產再次支付數億美元的現金。
