Straight Outta Cupertino: Apple Buying Dr. Dre's Beats For $3 Billion
Straight Outta Cupertino: Apple Buys Dr Dre's Beats For $3 Billion
Joshua Ostroff— The Huffington Post Canada
A couple of weeks after the Financial Times revealed Apple was interested in buying Dr. Dre's high-end headphones company Beats Electronics, the deal is finally official.
This disproves speculation that it had been scuttled after the rap mogul's video boast about becoming "the first billionaire in hip hop." (Which was not quite true, according to Forbes number crunchers.)
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The price, however, has dropped slightly from the $3.2 billion first reported to the $3 billion now confirmed, but as The Verge reports it remains the biggest acquisition Apple has ever made. It is expected to close before the end of the year after regulatory approval.
Not only does Apple get the Beats By Dre headphones, which dominate the premium market, but also Beats Music, an online subscription streaming service that launched earlier this year. The company also gets Dre and partner Jimmy Iovine as executives.
"Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple," said CEO Tim Cook. "That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world."
Iovine declared his love for his new bosses in the same press release. "I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple. 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."
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Dr. Dre rose to fame as the producer for hip hop icons, and FBI targets, N.W.A. He later founded Aftermath Records, releasing albums by Eminem, 50 Cent and Kendrick Lamar.
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