David Bowie: Financial Genius

We were saddened to hear of the death of groundbreaking singer and musician David Bowie. And while you may know him from Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and his numerous other works, you may be surprised that he was pretty good in finance as well. In 1997, Bowie was the first to issue "celebrity bonds," better known as "Bowie bonds." He sold the royalties from 25 albums released from 1969 to 1990 for $55 million to Prudential as bonds with a 7.9 percent coupon rate. Because the bonds carried interest, they were considered a loan, which meant that Bowie got the money without the tax liability. Then, in 2000, Bowie launched BowieBanc in conjunction with USBancshares.com, although that venture was short-lived. Fortunately, we predict the legacy of David Bowie will be with us much longer.