Robbie swings historic record deal with EMI

Robbie Williams signed what is believed to be the biggest British record deal in history yesterday and declared himself "rich beyond my wildest dreams".

The singer's deal is thought to be worth £80m, behind only Michael Jackson's £100m contract with Sony in 1991, and follows a fierce bidding war after his previous contract with EMI expired earlier this year.

EMI managed to keep their star signing after fighting off competition from Sony and the Virgin boss, Richard Branson, but the size of the deal initially surprised City analysts as the company has had a difficult year, cutting 1,800 jobs and being forced into a £20m payoff to Mariah Carey.

Announcing the deal, Williams refused to confirm the £80m figure, but said: "My mum said it would be really uncouth of me to talk about money – but I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams. It's great and I'm glad. I want to continue to break records and make records with EMI." Asked what he planned to do with the money, he said: "I'm going to count it all."

Since leaving Take That, Williams, 28, has become Britain's most successful pop star, selling nearly 10 million albums, winning nine Brit Awards and being named in polls as the most influential man in music. His last album, Swing When You're Winning, was EMI's most successful release, selling 5.4 million copies even though it was not available in the US.

He has so far failed to make much impact in America and the contract is believed to include a commitment to help him crack that market. It is thought to be made up of £10m up front, £15m on completion of the first record and £55m for the remaining three albums. In an unusual clause, EMI will take a cut of touring, merchandising and publishing profits.

EMI shares ended the day 1 per cent down after yo-yoing in the hours after the announcement. Some City analysts were aghast at the size of the contract and one said it was "bizarre" given EMI's experience with Mariah Carey: "They are putting all their eggs in one basket. It is equivalent to half a year's profits."

EMI was reticent about details of the contract, with sources unofficially claiming the figure was "way south" of £80m. It released a joint statement with Williams' manager, saying: "There are only a handful of artists in the world that could achieve this level of ownership and control of their own careers and record companies that could make it work."

Rival record companies were amazed that such a sum could be paid for an artist who has not been successful in the US, even though EMI had spent a "fortune" promoting him there.

Jeremy Lascelles, the chief executive of the music division at Chrysalis, said: "America is where the big upside is and he doesn't sell records there. Robbie's past sales would not make him a big-selling artist in US terms."

Williams' manager, David Enthoven, called it a "watershed deal" that would "undoubtedly make a positive change to the workings of the music industry". Williams' first release under the contract will be his new album, Escapology, due out next month, which he said was "the first album I'm really proud of".