Apple Dangles Senior Positions for Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine in Potential Beats Deal

Apple Dangles Senior Positions for Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine in Potential Beats Deal

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine might get more than a massive monetary windfall should their business deal with Apple go through.

The duo, who created the popular Beats brand of headphones and later added a music component to their company, could get top-level positions with the tech powerhouse if both parties agree to a proposed deal that that shocked the business world last week.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Cupertino-based tech giant would appoint the co-founders of the electronics brand, which recently launched a subscription music service, top spots as part of the $3-billion-plus purchase….

The $3.2 billion deal for Beats, Apple’s largest acquisition to date, would boost the tech giant’s efforts in the streaming-music space, expanding upon its recently launched iTunes Radio.THR has reached out to Beats for comment; Apple declined to comment.

Forbes adds that the deal could have a domino effect on the tech industry.

Apple has consistently avoided making big deals in the past, but if the Beats transaction means [Apple’s Tim] Cook is ready to go into deal-making mode, the trickle down effect in the tech world could turn into a flood. Facebook recently turned Jan Koum and Brian Acton into billionaires by buying the messaging service they founded, WhatsApp, for $19 billion.  Jim Goetz and his venture capital firm Sequoia were the big financial backers of WhatsApp and their funds will get some $3 billion from the deal, the largest venture capital exit of all time.

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