TMZ has launched a new documentary titled “TMZ Investigates: What Happened to Justin Bieber,” revealing that the pop star made between $500 million and $1 billion during the peak of his fame — but lost it all.
According to the investigation, Bieber’s lavish spending and financial mismanagement left him in such a precarious position that he was forced to sell his music catalog for $200 million in 2023. The doc, now streaming on Hulu, explores the downfall of one of pop’s biggest names and the pressures that came with his early success.
Justin Bieber’s headline-making $200 million music catalog sale in 2023 was part of a broader spree by Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Song Management, which was aggressively acquiring major songwriting assets through its Hipgnosis Songs Capital division.
The Bieber deal, which included his interests in master recordings and publishing royalties, was bankrolled by Blackstone-backed funding—separate from the UK-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund. It marked one of the largest catalog acquisitions for a solo artist under the age of 30 and reflected Hipgnosis’ continued bet on long-term music income.
The acquisition came just weeks before Hipgnosis also secured the catalog of Grammy Songwriter of the Year Tobias Jesso Jr., whose credits include Adele’s “When We Were Young” and Harry Styles’ “Boyfriends.” That followed a quiet but strategic deal with British production trio TMS.
Hipgnosis was sold to Blackrock private equity company after itself going through finance problems.
