Dr. Dre Sell’s Beats By Dre To Apple And Becomes Hip Hop’s First Billionaire [VIDEO]

According to reports, Apple is planning to purchase Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s Beats headphone empire.  If the deal goes through, Dr, Dre will become Hip Hop's first billionaire.

He's an iconic rapper/producer, however Dr. Dre has made millions making headphones. In fact 80% of his fortune has come from his Beats empire and it looks like the #1 headphone company in the U.S. is about to make the Hip Hop legend even richer.

According to reports, Dre and his partner film/record producer and co-founder of Interscope Records/chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M, Jimmy Iovine are poised to close an extremely lucrative deal with Apple.  While deal isn't completely solidified, Apple is set to purchase Beats By Dre for a mind-blowing $3.2 billion! This is the biggest deal for Apple since Steve Jobs died in 2011.  If all goes according to plans, Apple will claim ownership of Beats Music subscription service, a direct competitor for Apple’s iTunes Radio.

This is huge for Apple, because Beats Music stream alone, was starting to eat away at Apple's choke hold on the music streaming industry.  Beats Music launched last year and as streaming music subscriptions increased Dre and Iovine company, digital downloads decreased for the first time for Apple’s iTunes since it arrived in 2003.

By the way, Dre and Iovine sold 50.1 shares of Beats Electronics in 2011 to HTC for $300, and in less than three years bought the shares back for $415 million.  In that brief deal Dr. Dre walked away will a cool $100 million in pretax earnings.  So, at the end of the day it'a all about business and making that dollar.

Speaking of which, about two weeks ago Forbes’ released their 'Top Five Richest Rappers 2014' list and Sean "Diddy" Combes came in at #1 with a net worth of about $700 million.  It looked like he was on point in becoming Hip Hop's first billionaire, but if Dr. Dre closes the Beats deal with Apple for $3.2 billion, he'll be Hip Hop's undisputed 'Cash King.'

As for Jimmy Iovine, not only will he walk away with half of that $3.2 billion, but word has it he's going to take on the role of Apple's “special adviser.”  The New York Post reports the longtime record exec may advise Apple CEO Tim Cook on various creative matters in the future.

In the meantime, as we wait for conformation of the Beats/Apple deal, singer/actor Tyrese hopped on Instagram to give Forbes the following message: