As the world sorts through the pieces of Michael Jackson’s life one month after his death, so, too, does Wall Street.

A handful of major financial firms have made inquiries into buying the Jackson estate’s 50 percent share of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the company that controls most of the Beatles song catalog, according to people briefed on the matter. Among them are Colony Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Plainfield Asset Management and the media mogul Haim Saban, these people said.

Sony/ATV is by far the most valuable asset in Jackson’s estate, and his 50 percent stake could be worth as much a $500 million. Jackson bought the majority of the Beatles catalog in 1985 for $47.5 million, after an informal chat with Paul McCartney about the wisdom of buying song catalogs.

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