LOS ANGELES — Dr. Tohme Tohme vividly remembers the first time he met with Michael Jackson to discuss the pop star’s finances. It’s not the money talk that stays with him now, but his enchantment at entering Jackson’s world of love.
“I saw how kind he was and what a wonderful human being,” Tohme said in an interview. “I saw him with his children, and I had never seen a better father. . . . I decided to do what I could to help him.”
Tohme, a financier with a murky past, had been contacted by Jackson’s brother, Jermaine, who asked whether Tohme could help to save Jackson’s beloved Neverland ranch from foreclosure. Tohme said he traveled with Jermaine to Las Vegas, where Jackson was living after years of wandering the world following his acquittal on child- molestation charges.
They bonded instantly. “For the last year and a half, I was the closest person to Michael Jackson,” Tohme said. He contacted Tom Barrack, chairman of Colony Capital and a close personal friend. “He was hesitant to get involved, but I said, ‘Let’s go see Michael.'”
After the meeting, he said Barrack, who was impressed with Jackson’s “intelligence and focus,” bought the note for Neverland. But that was just the beginning of a business relationship that culminated in the London concerts that were to have begun next week.
He would only briefly discuss Jackson’s finances. During his time with the superstar, Tohme said, he was paid nothing but was able to negotiate business deals that would secure the future of Jackson’s children. He followed a long line of business managers and spokespeople who had come and gone from Jackson over the years. In the final year, he said he played a pivotal role in turning things around.
He said he was working with others to renegotiate the terms of Jackson’s main assets, his share of the Sony-ATV Music Publishing Catalog and the catalog of Mijac, the company that controls Michael Jackson’s own music.
He points with pride to the crown jewel of his and the new Jackson team’s efforts: the contract with AEG for concerts at the 02 arena in London.
Tohme uses the title “Dr.” and apparently has a medical degree, though there is no record that he has practiced in the United States. He said he was convinced that Jackson was in perfect health the last time he saw him, two days before he died.
