Sean Lennon has taken control of John Lennon’s estate
Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Vouge/Aaron Stern
Sean Ono Lennon has taken control of John Lennon‘s estate.
For close to 30 years, the estate had been managed by Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono.
Ono, however, has retired from public life in recent years.
Her last formal appearance was in 2017.
Addressing an audience at the National Music Publishers’ Association Awards the artist shared that she had an “illness” but did not offer any further specifics.
UK paper The Mirror now reports Ono has handed most of her duties over to son Sean Ono Lennon.
On October 5 Sean was appointed as the director at eight companies linked to Yoko Ono and the Beatles.
This includes multimedia company Apple Corp, which was founded by John Lennon alongside bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1968.
Lennon and Ono’s son will also oversee another company known as Lincoln, which manages the publishing rights of some of John’s solo music.
Sean Lennon may have his work cut out for him.
Lennon’s estate was estimated as sitting at $800,000 million at his time of death.
Under Ono, the daughter of a wealthy Japanese banker, this fortune has no doubt continued to grow.
In 2019 alone Forbes reported Lennon’s estate to have earned more than $14 million.
With interests in Lennon’s work still running high, the former Beatle is the world’s 7th top-earning dead celebrity.
While Ono has not commented on his new roles he has been actively following the passing of what would have been his father’s 80th birthday on October 9.
Looking to learn more about his father and grandmother Julia Lennon, Sean interviewed Paul McCartney, Elton John, and brother Julian Lennon.
“For me, the real motivation is this music can’t be forgotten,” Sean shared.
“Especially [songs like] ‘Gimme Some Truth’.”
“I’ve never felt like my dad’s music was more needed in terms of message than this,” he continued.
“I think it’s a message that everyone can connect with. If you’re a good person, what you want now more than anything else is a little reality, because it just seems like we’re living in a, you know, an alternate dimension.”
