The Beatles’ 9 Most Brilliant Business Moves
And how you can cover them
Some folks are looking at that headline, thinking “You gotta be kiddin’ me!” I know, I know — Apple Corps Ltd wasn’t exactly the Amazon of the ’70s, and it’s given the Fab Four an enduring rap as inept businessmen.
But hear me out, because first of all, Apple is still around and netting a few million pounds a year. And its formation saved The Beatles more than £2 million in taxes right off the bat, in 1968 valuation.
But that’s beside the point because I want to talk about the incredibly savvy choices that helped these guys clear the kind of jack that makes £2 million in tax savings possible in the first place. Especially considering how many other bands of their time were churning out hits and netting chicken feed by comparison.
Number 1: They hired Ringo Starr
By the time The Beatles landed their recording contract with EMI in ’62, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison had been bandmates for four years, including two years with drummer Pete Best. But Pete never really gelled with the group. Not only was he not quite as good a musician, but like their former bassist Stu Sutcliff he didn’t share the other guys’ all-consuming passion to be a chart-topping pop band.
