Beatles-Epstein contract going on sale next month

Brian Epstein's copy of his management contract with the Beatles, a pact that proved to be worth millions, is being offered for sale in London next month.

The four-page document, signed Oct. 1, 1962, by John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey — Ringo Starr's real name — carries an estimated price of $480,000. The Fame Bureau auction house said Tuesday it had scheduled the sale for Sept. 4 at the Idea Generation Gallery.

The contract, also signed by Harold Hargreaves Harrison and James McCartney on behalf of their underage sons, gave Epstein a 25 percent cut of the band's earnings, provided they made more than $400 each per week.

"The word is that he made more money than the Beatles did during his period of time," said Ted Owen, managing director of The Fame Bureau.