Dan Troisi
The Doctor is about to cash out and become hip-hop’s first billionaire.
According to multiple reports, Apple is closing in on a deal to purchase Dr. Dre’s Beats Electronics for a cool $3.2 billion.
The deal is likely part of Apple’s grand-plan to take aim at Spotify and become number one name the in streaming music.
Here’s some financial mumbo-jumbo from Forbes:
Forbes had previously estimated that the founders each owned approximately 25% of the company, but there have been a number of transactions in the last year, with former majority owner HTC backing out and private equity firm Carlyle Group investing as a minority partner. Beats also reportedly raised $60 million in funding from, among others, billionaires Len Blavatnik, Marc Rowan, James Packer, and Lee Bass.
Most recently, Forbes estimated the value of Beats at about $2 billion, but Apple would appear to be paying well above that if the acquisition goes through.
Unlike some of its Silicon Valley peers, Apple is not known for making big acquisitions, so such a deal would be a marked departure in style for CEO Tim Cook. But it could be a way to start using Apple’s massive hoard of cash or attempt to shore up the company’s large but slowing iTunes music sales business. $3.2 billion would be the same price Google GOOGL +0.35% paid for high-end thermostat maker Nest Labs in January.
In related news, Detox still isn’t coming out.
