Rumor: Apple Buys Beats For $3.2 Billion and Makes Dr. Dre First Billionare Rapper

Rumor has it that Apple has purchased headphone and speaker-maker Beats Electronics LLC for $3.2 Billion! The rumor appeared to be confirmed by Beats co-founder Dr. Dre in a video clip that was posted to Facebook by singer-songwriter Tyrese Gibson. The video, since removed, had the caption “Dr Dre ON THE night his deal went public that he did with Apple 3.2 BILLION!!!!” You can’t just remove a video when you are famous and some folks were able to save it and put it up on Youtube. The video is embedded below, but is likely not safe for work as there is explicit language in the video clip.

CNBC reported that if the deal is genuine, it could make Dre the world’s first billionaire rapper. It would also be Apple’s largest deal ever. It is coming off as a strange purchase as Apples mission has been to make the best products and not to acquire other well known brands. Why go after Beats? Apple has nearly $160 billion in cash, so why not try something different?

People might bash Beats for having being overpriced, but few complained about the audio quality. It looks like “Beats By Dre” was onto something when the brand was established in 2008 by rapper-turned-businessman Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine. The only person that is going to be upset by this deal is P Diddy. P Diddy, who according to Forbes is worth $700m, will be passed up by Dr. Dre once this deal goes through. Dr. Dre is currently worth $550 million and he is though to own 20-25% of Beats, so it might be tough for him to break that billion dollar mark that he claims in the video clip.