14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday it was revealed that Dr. Dre stood to become the first man in hip-hop to become a billionaire after his deal with Apple for the selling of Beats Electronics would have resulted in a $3.2 billion (€2.3 billion) profit. The news wasn't even confirmed and Dr. Dre posted a video in which he celebrated his new wealth and title.
The producer and rapper was already sitting pretty as the second most wealthy man in hip-hop, right after Puff Daddy, as Forbes reported last month. When the deal was made public, it was widely believed, including by Dre himself, that he would hit the billion-dollar mark, but it looks like it wasn't meant to be.
TMZ talked with the people at Forbes, who've done the math and it looks like Dr. Dre is going to get less money than previously anticipated out of the deal, since he owns just 25% of the company he's set up with the boss of Interscope Records.
Of course, out of that money, he has to give Uncle Sam his share, and after state and federal taxes, Dre is going to have only $480 million (€347 million) out of the deal. Add that to his existing fortune and the final tally is about $800 million (€579 million) which is still short of the coveted billion that he so loudly bragged about.
It's not enough to make him a billionaire, but it's enough to make him the richest man in hip-hop, since Puff Daddy's fortune is estimated at one hundred million dollars less than Dre's reported 800.
Of course, he still gets the bragging rights, and the deal with Apple is still the most expensive they've ever made, but for the intended purpose – that of becoming the first man in hip-hop to break the illusive one-billion-dollar mark – it's still not enough.
Beats Electronics relied heavily on Dre's name and image to market their products, the most important of which were their over-ear headphones, but the company was co-owned by the rapper and Jimmy Iovine, the head of Interscope Records.
Dre was so busy celebrating his victory and so confident that the deal with Apple was going down, that he's reportedly already bought Tom Brady's exclusive mansion for a whopping $40 million (€28 million), which we will now be deducting from his future 800 million. Sorry Dre, it looks like you're still a couple of millions short, better luck next time!