The Fine Print In The Weeknd’s $1 Billion Deal Is Making Fans Rethink Everything

The Weeknd just pulled the trigger on a monster deal that looks like a sale, feels like a loan, and has everyone arguing about which it actually is. Short version: his catalog has been valued at a cool $1 billion, but he didn’t sell it. He and Lyric Capital Group built a new venture around it. And yes, the structure is very finance-brain.

What the deal actually is

• Valuation and scope: Lyric Capital has invested in Abel Tesfaye’s music catalog from the beginning of his career through 2025. The catalog has been pegged at roughly $1 billion.
• Ownership and control: Tesfaye and his XO team keep creative control and remain majority owners. Reports indicate Lyric holds about a 25% equity stake in the catalog, with Tesfaye and Cash XO retaining roughly 75% ownership and control.
• Masters and publishing: The package includes his master recordings and publishing through 2025. It does not cover any music he releases after 2025.
• How it’s funded: Trade outlets describe it as raising about $1 billion against the catalog, with around 75% of that via debt. Bloomberg’s breakdown floating around is $500 million in senior debt, $250 million in junior debt, and $250 million in equity.
• Not a sale: He still owns the catalog; he’s basically using it as collateral to access capital, similar to a business loan secured by future royalties.
• Existing partnerships: Tesfaye stays with XO/Republic/Universal Music Group on the label side, and his publishing continues to be administered by Universal Music Publishing Group.
• Pre-existing slices: Half of his publishing rights were already held by Chord Music Partners (backed by Universal Music Group and Dundee Partners) going into this.

Why fans are calling it a loan

Because functionally, it kind of is. He didn’t cash out; he levered up.

"The Weeknd did not sell his catalog for $1B. His catalog was valued at $1B... The Weeknd and Cash XO keep 75% ownership."

— @AkademiksTV on X

@AkademiksTV also amplified the idea that Tesfaye took a $250 million loan against the catalog while Lyric picked up a 25% equity stake in his masters and publishing. The gist: he borrowed big against the assets, rather than selling them outright.

The skeptic camp: 'He mortgaged the music'

Plenty of commentary on X is framing this as a rushed cash grab. @MC_60sGang argues Tesfaye used his masters and future earnings as collateral, comparing it to taking out a mortgage and handing the bank the keys. They claim he typically makes about $55 million a year from the catalog but could owe around $65 million annually in interest under this new structure, which would theoretically put him $10 million in the red every year and funnel streaming checks to lenders first. They also suggest it could take 18+ years to pay off and speculate he’ll mostly make money from touring in the meantime.

That same thread leans into the Drake rivalry — basically asking if Abel is trying to force billionaire status ahead of Drake — and argues he has effectively sold the catalog without calling it a sale. Another user, @Rodeo_247, echoes the long paydown timeline and notes the deal doesn’t touch any music made after this year.

Important caveat: those specific earnings and interest numbers are not confirmed by Tesfaye’s camp or the companies involved; they’re fan math and should be treated as speculation.

The defense: 'He’s betting on himself'

On the flip side, other fans like @IRoo26 and @Tweets_ByJay say the move is smart: he keeps ownership, gets a giant war chest now, and can invest while streaming is still strong. @kingjamsx points out the key upside that future releases are excluded, so anything he drops after 2025 can be negotiated separately. There’s also chatter that he’s changing his name and would own music released under that new name — that part is floating around fandom, but it hasn’t been confirmed.

How big is this, really?

Very. Variety, Bloomberg, and Billboard have all painted the same general picture: a roughly $1 billion valuation built on about $55 million in net label and net publisher share, which suggests somewhere around an 18.2x multiple. Tesfaye’s reps aren’t confirming the math and say you can’t cleanly compute a royalty multiple anyway because this isn’t a traditional catalog sale. Even so, if those estimates hold, this is one of the biggest single-artist catalog deals ever — and it’s for a contemporary star who didn’t sell outright.

The bottom line

This isn’t a cash-out. It’s a highly leveraged, high-confidence play built on the Weeknd’s hits to fund whatever he wants to do next, while keeping the keys to the catalog — at least on paper. Whether that looks brilliant or risky depends on how you feel about debt, interest rates, and betting on future streams. The only thing not up for debate: it’s huge.