It's official! About a month ago reports regarding Apple purchasing Beats By Dre for $3.2 million surfaced on the web and Dr. Dre openly hinted on becoming the first hip-hop billionaire yet the deal was never officially confirmed. Today Apple revealed that the deal has been sealed but the offering has been lowered to a flat $3 billion. The New York Post points out that recent news regarding the Beats Music streaming service only having a user-base of 111,000 might be the cause for the lower offer.
Apple is expected to shell out $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in stock for Beats, marking Apple's largest purchase in its nearly 40-year history. The sale will be final in late September.
However, while huge part of media pronounced Dr. Dre hip-hop's first billionaire, the mogul might fall just short. According to Forbes, has has earned $275 million over the past three years for a grand total of $550 million. Forbes also estimated that he could gross up to $750 million on a $3 billion sale from his 20 to 25 percent stake of Beats By Dre. Needless to day, the producer has to first pay the IRS which is one of the reasons his plans to become the first billionaire in the genre will most probably suffer a delay.
In related news, Jimmy Ivoine will step down as Chairman and CEO of Interscope later this year. 25 years after finding the company, he will give up his place to Interscope’s second in command, John Janick. Jimmy is expected to join Apple once it acquires Beats By Dre as an executive in the corporation's music divisions along with Dr. Dre. Says Jimmy:
"John Janick has exactly what it takes to lead Interscope Geffen A&M: he started his own label, he understands the art of making records and the unique dynamic between a record label and artist, as well as the enormous responsibility that comes with representing one of the greatest artist rosters ever assembled. It’s always been so important to me to be able to identify and train the right successor, so I’m thrilled to have found John Janick. And during the last few years, as I was preparing John to take the reins, Lucian Grainge was transforming UMG, a transformation that made it possible for me to make this transition knowing that Interscope is in good hands.”
Says Universal Records CEO Lucian Grainge:
I’m thrilled to announce John Janick’s promotion to Chairman and CEO of IGA. Since coming to UMG nearly two years ago, he has consistently shown why he is widely regarded as one of the most talented, innovative and entrepreneurial executives in the music business today and will be a key player in the future generation of industry leaders. John is the ideal executive to be writing the next chapter in IGA’s illustrious history.
What Jimmy has done for IGA and UMG is immeasurable. I cannot express how enormously grateful I am for both his partnership and his friendship. While we will miss him as a member of the UMG family, with his appointment at Apple, Jimmy will now be in a position to expand and extend his singular vision and talent, the result of which will, undoubtedly, accelerate the growth of the entire music industry. We look forward to the next exciting phase of Jimmy’s extraordinary career as that special creative spark Jimmy brings to whatever he touches leads to innovations and advances in entertainment and technology that will delight music fans around the world.”
Source :::::::::: Viperial
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