Dr. Dre is about to be a billionaire.

The only one from America is Oprah

 

Check the charts and lyrics haters. Decent beats from the west but if we are talking lyrical content its nowhere close. I can name at least ten rappers from NY way better than anyone from the west without even having to mention Jay Big or Nas
Keep bouncing though homie lol

 

Bob Johnson?

 

i got 3 bucks and an unwrapped peppermint with lint on it.

 

His net worth is $550 million.

 

Divorce is a bitch lol

 

I heard Vagina has a net worth of infinite.

 

Not quite, bro.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/06/ri...nss-billionaires-richest-black-americans.html

Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson became the first African American billionaire in 2000 after he sold the network to Viacom for $3 billion in stock and assumed debt. Since then, sagging Viacom and CBS stock, plus investments in real estate, hotels and banks–industries pummeled in the past year amid the recession–have dragged Johnson’s net worth to $550 million, we estimate. He ranks third on the list; his former wife and BET co-founder, Sheila Johnson, ranks seventh with $400 million.

 

i think he should have been silent bout the deal until its been inked.
what he did equal to a dude running down street screaming "she is gonna give me some ass tomorrow

 

Ha!!!

 

It's Official! Congrats!

Apple has confirmed it's buying Beats Electronics, the headphone and music streaming service set up by rapper Dr. Dre and recording impresario Jimmy Iovine.

The $3bn acquisition by far the most expensive in Apple's 38-year history, and comes three weeks after the deal was first rumoured - although the initial price was believed to be $3.2bn.

Apple Boss Tim Cook revealed the deal, saying 'We have known these guys forever, we've dated, we've gone steady and now we are getting married.'

​

'I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,' said Jimmy Iovine.

As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join 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.'

The price consists of $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in Apple stock that will vest over an unspecified time period.

The deal is expected to close before the end of September.

It is believed Apple is also interested in Beats expertise in developing wearable products and it edges closer to a much anticipated iWatch launch,

With $1.1 billion in revenue last year, Beats is already making money and will boost Apple's earnings once the new fiscal year begins in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview.

'This relationship started a decade ago, so we know there is an incredible cultural fit.

'These two guys have a very rare set of skills. It's like finding a particular grain of sand on the beach. It's that rare.'

Iovine, 61, and Dre, 49, will both become key executives in Apple's music divisions, though Cook said their roles haven't been determined yet.

Cook said Beats' music streaming service was the main selling point in the deal.

The growing popularity of music streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify has been reducing sales of songs and albums, a business that iTunes has dominated for the past decade.

U.S. sales of downloaded songs slipped 1 percent last year to $2.8 billion while streaming music revenue surged 39 percent to $1.4 billion, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Although Apple broke into streaming with the launch of iTunes Radio last September, the service has not been as popular or as lucrative as the company expected, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The people were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Apple is counting on the Beats acquisition to boost its cachet with teenagers and younger adults while trying to remain a leader in digital music — an industry that looks much different than when Apple reshaped the scene with the 2001 debut of the iPod.

The purchase marks Apple CEO Tim Cook's biggest strategic break from the way the Cupertino, California, company was led under co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in October 2011.

Jobs favored smaller acquisitions and didn't believe subscription music plans would be popular.

Before Beats, Apple's biggest acquisition had been its $400 million purchase of NeXt Computer, a company that Jobs founded after being ousted from Apple in the 1980s.

Cook said he never considered what Jobs would have thought about the Beats' acquisition. Jobs 'told me to do what was right,' Cook said. 'And I am 100 percent certain this is what is right.

'This is one of those things that we will look back upon and say it was meant to be.'

Sony Music CEO Doug Morris, who considers Iovine to be his best friend, believes Cook is making a smart move that will give Apple even more credibility in the music industry.

'It's a game changer because Jimmy is that kind of guy who can change a game,' Morris said.

'I am not saying he is Steve Jobs, but he is a guy with new ideas and he really knows how to build the bridge between music and technology.'

----

But some analysts question whether Beats will be a good fit for Apple, which makes most of its money selling hardware such as iPhones and iPads.

Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett says Apple would have been better off developing its own headphones in-house and expanding into music subscriptions through iTunes.

'It's hard to understand why Apple would have to spend $3 billion on a nascent streaming service and a line of bass-heavy headphones,' Gillett says.

Yukari Iwatani Kane, the author of 'Haunted Empire,' an inside look at Apple since co-founder Jobs' death, also sees a disconnect.

'Culturally, Beats is the complete opposite of Apple,' Kane says.

'It's known for being loud and bold and in your face. It doesn't fit with Apple's understated, discerning brand.'

The Beats deal also aligns Apple with the push toward higher-quality music, reversing a decline in fidelity as people abandoned vinyl records for CDs and then switched from CDs to MP3s.

The Beats move follows a string of high-priced deals in Silicon Valley, after Google acquired smart home developer Nest Labs for $3.2bn and Facebook offered an initial $19bn for WhatsApp Messenger, and then bought VR firm Oculus for $2bn.

Apple executives Tim Cook and Eddy Cue have previously met with Iovine to discuss streaming music services and Apple and Beats have partnered up to sell Beats earphone products in Apple Retail stores.

GREAT INTERVIEW
[HDYT]VNIclbZ039c[/HDYT]
(around 1min mark, he discusses the birth)

 

I still don't get it.
Since when does Apple need street cred???

Apple has so many hundreds of billions sitting in banks doing nothing, I guess they feel like they just have to buy something and grow their brand/digital tech conglomerate.

Down the road I still think Apple is going to struggle justifying this deal.

What would Steve Jobs do???:smt108

 

You never heard of a larger company buying a smaller one that has large profit margin?

This happens every fucking day in the business world.

If Dre weren't involved, I doubt people would be so incredulous.

 

Yes they would be. Beats main business is selling personal audio listening equipment and streaming music to customers.

Most huge tech companies swallow up smaller ones that are on the cutting digital edge in social media or in tech development.

As far as I can see, Beats is neither.

I'm still waiting for someone to explain how buying Beats for $3 bil makes Apple Inc. a stronger company, unless as many have speculated this move was done for the sole purpose of strengthening their music business, iTunes.

If it's true that people were streaming more music from Beats than they were DLing music from iTunes, then the deal sort of makes sense.

 

Well damn son. Why are you wasting your time posting about this here?

You better submit your editorial to the WSJ, Forbes and Blooberg and set all of those know nothing MBAs straight before it's too late for Apple to back out of this silly deal.

 

Like I'm the only one questioning the rationale behind the deal.

Learn to think critically my friend and stop waiting for others to tell you what you're supposed to think.

Apple didn't seek approval for this deal from the WSJ/Forbes/Bloomberg etc., or any random MBAs, so I have no idea why you're referencing generic corporate group think.

It's hilarious to me you're busting my balls for questioning the deal, yet you in all your wisdom have yet to offer a rationale behind it, besides the fact that Beats is 'profitable'.

If you think that was the bottom line criteria for this deal, you're really off base.

If the topic is too big for you to wrap your head around, stop posting about it.:smt006

 

I see tons of snotty teenagers wearing those massive headphones of his, of which the cheapest is about 100 quid and upto 350 quid in the UK.

Good for him, he put his name to something that people seem to like buying and it must be a quality product otherwise they wouldn't pay so much for it.

Putting his name to something that might not have taken off or been a bit shit was a risk and now he has the reward.

 

I actually think it makes sense for Apple to buy Beats, it's a premium product used in conjunction with their devices why wouldn't they want to own it.

If you think about it, what other mainstream product has the right kind of brand reputation to be part of the Apple merchandise.

I'm not saying there isn't better products out there, but what image do they have and do they appeal to the young Apple market that has to have the latest and best of everything.

 

To anyone who grew up in South Central, Compton, or Watts, this is huge!

It started with our music but it ended with BUSINESS.

Smart as a fucking whip.

 

Who cares if Apple should have bought it or not? I am just happy there is a brother who is now a billionaire and oh he is a rapper so go ahead a bust a valve you know who