Allen Klein, ex Beatles manager, dies aged 77

Allen Klein, the flamboyant and often controversial record company executive and one-time manager of the Beatles, has died at the age of 77 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Klein also managed other acts such as the Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke. His first successful foray into artist management came in the late 1950's when he helped the singer Bobby Darin to claim unpaid royalties worth 100 000 dollars from his record company. This affair put him in the public eye and he soon acquired a reputation as a hard negotiator. He became the Rolling Stones' manager in 1966 but was fired by Mick Jagger in the late 60's because he suspected Klein of untrustworthy business tactics. Jagger had already introduced him to the Beatles though, and he filled the gap left by Brian Epstein's death by becoming their manager in 1969. His first job was to clear up the financial mess left by the Beatles' erratic financial management of their record company, Apple, and its various subsidiaries, including a fashion boutique in London' trendy Savile Row. He slashed expenditure in all areas of the Apple empire and although this action cleaned up the Beatles' financial affairs it also alienated many of the Beatles' friends and associates. This resulted in a slow deterioration in relations between him and the Beatles, who eventually fired him. The Apple venture represented the pinnacle of his career, although he continued to work extensively with other well-known acts until the late 1990's. He also founded the highly successful independent record label and publishing house ABKCO, which still owns the copyright to thousands of songs by many artists, including Jagger and Richards, Bobby Womack, Pete Townshend and Marianne Faithfull.