Apple acquires Beats for $3 billion

Apple on Wednesday said it agreed to acquire Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion. As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple.

“Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.”

The two Beats entities make headphones, speakers, audio software, and the subscription streaming music service.

“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,” said Jimmy Iovine. “The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.”

In my opinion, Jimmy is going to play an important role going forward. Maybe not that you always see, but he’ll be there.