After weeks of speculation, Apple confirmed that it’s going to by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovines company, Beats Electronics, $2.6 billion USD in cash and $400 million in stock options. It will be Apple’s biggest aquisition yet, and will probably make Dr. Dre hip hop’s first legit billionaire. More after the click.
From MTV:
“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,” Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Beats, said in a press release obtained by MTV News. “The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.”
Iovine, a veteran music industry record executive, co-founded the company in 2008 with Dr. Dre. Now, following its purchase, the two will join Apple.
Beats initially built up its brand and name through headphones — from in-ear options to powerful studio-ready versions. After that, other products, including speakers, hit the market. Then, earlier this year, the company launched a music streaming service, which allows users to access an immense library of music once they’ve signed up. The company tapped a number of experts to create playlists across genres, while it also includes other features like “The Sentence” — which has been making its way into a number of rap videos recently, from Schoolboy Q’s “Studio” to Wiz Khalifa’s “We Dem Boyz.”
To read the whole story from MTV, click here. For another good writeup on the collossal deal, check out this one from TheNextWeb.
