Co-founded by hip-hop artist Dr. Dre and music executive Jimmy Iovine, Beats Audio is well known for its popular headsets and speakers. In 2014, Apple acquired the headphone arm for $2.5B, and Beats Music (streaming service) for $500M - some of which was paid in stock, which raised some eyebrows.
Dr. Dre was the highest-paid musician worldwide in 2014 by a massive distance, earning five times more than his nearest rival. He took home $620 million before taxes, the biggest single-year earnings of any musician in history. This was primarily due to the sale of Beats (which he cofounded) to Apple for $3 billion.
As first announced by the Financial Times it seems almost certain that Apple will buy premium headphone and audio company Beats for $3.2 billion. Apple was expected to announce the news next week but have been pre-empted by an indiscrete Dr Dre, the rapper, hip hop producer and founder of Beats, who confirmed the deal in public.