Music mogul Jimmy Iovine and legendary producer Dr. Dre originally partnered in 2006, forming Beats Electronics. Their primary goals were to combat music piracy, and to improve the audio experience of music fans across the world. Their solution to the latter issue were the Beats by Dre Studio headphones, which debuted on Jan. 6, 2008.
The stylish headphones took off quickly, buoyed by many celebrity endorsements and a striking design. The Beats brand has even broken into the world of sports, becoming one of the bigger stories at the 2012 Summer Olympics, thanks to LeBron James and Michael Phelps rockin them at the games.
In 2011, NPD Group reported that Beats’ market share was 64% in the U.S. for headphones priced higher than US $100, and the brand was valued at US$1 billion in September 2013.
For a period, the company was majority-owned by Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC. The company reduced its stake to 25% in 2012, and sold its remaining stake back to the company in 2013. Concurrently, Carlyle Group replaced HTC as a minority shareholder, alongside Dr. Dre and Iovine in late 2013. On August 1, 2014, Apple Inc. acquired Beats for US$3 billion in a cash and stock deal, the largest acquisition in Apple’s history.
Checkout Jimmy Iovine giving the full story of how this revolutionary company was developed.
