Dr. Dre has reportedly reached billionaire status.
On Tuesday (March 10), Forbes released its updated The Richest People in the World list. The legendary producer made the cut for the first time, with a net worth of $1 billion, which has mostly been obtained from music and his headphone empire. Dre now ranks as the 3,332 richest person on the planet, tied with Beyoncé. The new ranking makes Dr. Dre the second-richest hip-hop artist (behind Jay-Z) and only the sixth musician on the list.
Jay-Z, who officially became hip-hop’s first billionaire in 2019, Hov has pushed his net worth to $2.8 billion with investments in D’Ussé Cognac, Armand de Brignac (Ace of Spades Champagne), Tidal, Roc Nation and more.
Dre’s official entry into the Forbes list comes 12 years after he announced he was hip-hop’s first billionaire during the sale of his company, Beats Electronics, to Apple Music for $3 billion in 2014. When everything was finalized, Dre reportedly took home about $500 million from the sale, which made him the richest hip-hop artist at the time but short of billionaire status.
In 2022, Dre’s net worth had dipped to $400 million. The following year, he reportedly sold a portion of his music assets to Shamrock Holdings and Universal Music Group for the asking price of $250 million, including “two of his solo albums and his share of N.W.A. artist royalties; his producer royalties; and the writer’s share of his song catalog where he doesn’t own publishing, which may include the writer’s share of songs on his The Chronic album,” according to Billboard.
Dre has continued to stack wealth through investments and real estate. Most recently, he sold his Malibu, Calif., home for $16.5 million.
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