Kanye West on business: what the evidence says · JRE #1554
SUBJECT: BUSINESS
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
When Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre sold Beats by Dre Universal had a chance to buy in to do different things. They sold it for three billion dollars.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Kanye West claimed Universal Music Group had a chance to buy into Beats by Dre when Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre sold the company for three billion dollars. Public record shows Apple, not Universal Music Group, acquired Beats Electronics and Beats Music from Iovine and Dr. Dre on May 28, 2014, in a deal announced at a total value of about three billion dollars (roughly 2.6 billion dollars in cash plus about 400 million dollars in stock vesting over time). Contemporaneous reporting describes the buyer as Apple, with Iovine and Dr. Dre joining Apple in executive roles reporting to senior vice president Eddy Cue; no contemporaneous account describes Universal Music Group as a purchaser or as having a buy-in opportunity in this transaction. The claim that Universal bought into or had a chance to buy into this specific deal is not supported by the available record and is assessed as false.