Beats Electronics was founded in 2008 when music industry mogul Jimmy Iovine (he is Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records chairman) approached uber-produer and rapper Andre Young(better known by his stage name Dr. Dre) to start a new headphone brand.
Will.i.Am Silent Partner in Beats
The pair approached another well-known artist William Adams (better known as Will.i.am) who agreed to join as a silent partner - but one who would aggressively promote the brand in the coming years.
It's always been rumoured will.i.am owns a 12.5% stake of the Beats brand, so he'll pocket approximately $325M from Apple's Beats buyout and $50M of Apple stock.
Someone put a stop to this madness
he deserves it.
