Reclusive Yoko Ono, 87, hands over her business interests in The Beatles and John Lennon to their son Sean

Ailing Yoko Ono is handing her business interests in The Beatles and John Lennon over to their son Sean.

The reclusive widow, 87,  has not been seen in public for more than a year and now uses a wheelchair much of the time on the rare occasions when she leaves her New York home.

She has been managing John's $800million fortune since his death in 1980.

Now Sean, 45, has been appointed a director at eight companies linked to the family and The Beatles according to The Mirror, including the multimedia Apple Corps.

Apple Corps had reported assets of $36million last year, and Sean is also believed to be taking over at Lensolo, managing John's solo material, Maclen, which publishes John's work in the US, and Subafilms, a music film company.

From me, to you: Yoko Ono is stepping back from work and handing her business interests over to her son Sean as she slows down at the age of 87 (pictured in January, 2019)

Here comes the son: Sean Lennon, 45, has been appointed a director at eight companies linked to the family and the Beatles, including Apple Corp

Yoko has been vocal for decades about global peace and was often seen attending exhibitions of her artworks.

But she has become more reclusive in recent years and has spoken about suffering from an illness.

On what would have been John's 80th birthday last month, Sean made a BBC documentary and an Apple Music show to mark the occasion.

Yoko only tweeted a video in which she appeared to be reading from a script. 

In one of her last public appearances in 2017, she said: 'I've learned so much from having this illness.'

But it is not known what the artist is suffering from.

In February 2016, Yoko was hospitalized after suffering what was rumored to be a stroke, but she later said it was a severe flu.

She still lives in the same nine-room Dakota building in New York where John was assassinated outside in 1980. 

The widow of John Lennon has not been seen in public for more than a year and now uses a wheelchair much of the time

Julian Lennon (pictured in 2019) had a strained relationship with his father and was excluded from his will

John Lennon's growing fortune 

Despite it being 40 years after the death of John Lennon, the singer's estate is still raking it in, much to the delight of Yoko Ono.

Last year, he was named the seventh top earning dead celebrity by Forbes, with an annual income of $14million.

The 50th anniversary of iconic album Abbey Road boosted sales and streams of The Beatles catalog, proving a healthy stream of income to the estate.

The Lennon estate also owns memorabilia. his art and a number of properties. 

The income might be more if not for the legal wrangling over the ownership of The Beatles catalog, which was once owned by Michael Jackson and then by Sony.

Yoko has kept a steady hand on John's finances, amassing a reported $700million fortune off the back of his estate.

As a key shareholder in Apple Corps, she profited from his music sales and other ventures which featured The Beatles, such as Rock Band. 

She also owns multimillion-dollar properties in Manhattan and hundreds of acres in Delaware County.

But in recent years, she has sold off a number of them, selling a West Village penthouse for $12million in 2013, and an Upper West Side building for $10million in 2017. 

According to Companies House in the UK, Yoko was registered as a director in a number of companies including Apple Corps, Maclen, which publishes Lennon's songs in the US, Lensolo for his solo work, and Subafilms.

Yoko has also made money off her own artwork, which has sold for up to $50,000. 

The peace activist is said to be receiving around-the-clock care and rarely leaves her sprawling apartment where she often uses a wheelchair. 

John also shares a son Julian with his first wife Cynthia but the pair had a strained relationship.

The Beatle frequently described his first son as unplanned, saying he 'came from a bottle of whiskey', while saying Sean was a 'planned child, and therein lies the difference'.

John even quit music for a number of years after Sean was born, but in Julian's early life, his father was mostly absent.

The singer created a trust for Julian to receive £100,000 when he turned 21, but he had to split that equally with any of John's other future children.

Julian, who is now 57, was excluded from John's will, with Yoko and Sean the main beneficiaries of his reported $200million at the time of his death.

In 1996, Julian sued his father's estate and after a lengthy court battle, settled with Yoko for a reported $25million, although he has denied the figure.

He says the relationship with Yoko has improved in recent years and they appeared together at an exhibition of his photography, along with Sean, in 2010.

A spokesman sad: 'Yoko continues to oversee John's estate but has drafted in Sean as a director to assist where necessary.' 

Sean made headlines earlier this year when he slammed the toppling of a Lincoln statue in Portland during the Black Lives Matter protests.

He then sarcastically suggested that 'the Pyramids should be torn down immediately' because the 'evil Pharaohs were not very woke'. 

Outspoken Ono Lennon also mocked the vandals, suggesting the Italians be held accountable for Emperor Julius Caesar. He wrote: 'Can someone explain why it appears a Lincoln statue was toppled in Portland? Asking for a friend.'

The musician, who has more than 300,000 followers on Twitter, followed up with a tweet, adding: 'The Pyramids of Giza were made under coercion from evil Pharaohs who were not very woke. I think we can all agree the Pyramids should be torn down immediately.

'Since the invasion of Britain by Emperor Julius Caesar in 55 B.C., Italy has remained deafeningly silent. I think it’s time Italy was held accountable.'