As part of the impending $3.2 billion Apple acquisition of Beats Electronics, Beats co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine will join Apple as senior executives, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.
The report does not seem to indicate that the two men will be full-time employees. Rather, it seems possible that the pair will commute and take meetings as needed. In the modern world of technology, working remotely is not a far-fetched possibility. If the deal closes, Iovine is also expected to resign as Chairman of Interscope, a record label…
The Apple deal for Beats is expected to bolster both Apple’s hardware accessories and music businesses leveraging Beats expertise in marketing audio accessories and the aforementioned duo’s proficiency in selling music products. A report from yesterday indicated that Iovine could become a “special advisor” to Apple CEO Tim Cook, but this is the first report to indicate that Dr. Dre and Iovine will become actual Apple executives. BuzzFeed indicates that Iovine will truly focus on music strategy: “According to the source, Apple is buying Beats in part to bring Iovine on board to “revamp and run its whole music strategy.”
Earlier today, we posted an old Apple keynote video of Steve Jobs and Dr. Dre discussing the music business as well as an interview with Iovine discussing Jobs and Apple. Both are well worth a watch. The deal is expected to be announced as soon as next week.
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur
