Dr. Dre may not be the “first billionaire in hip-hop” after all.
The music industry heavyweight gave himself the title after negotiating a reported $3.2 billion deal with Apple to buy Beats Electronics.
But a spokesperson for Forbes magazine reportedly tells TMZ that figure won’t necessarily translate to billionaire status for the music producer.
Forbes Assistant Managing Editor for Wealth told the website after state and federal taxes are taken into consideration, Dre will be worth approximately $800 million, leaving him just shy of the financial milestone.
"Not quite enough to debut on the Forbes 400 but plenty for bragging rights,” the editor reportedly said.
Dre apparently owns only 25 per cent of Beats, so Forbes editors forecast the maximum he would earn from the Apple deal would be $800 million, which reduces to $480 million after taxes.
Analysts combined the $480 million net profit with Dre’s other assets to come up with the $800 million figure.
The number would put Dre in front of P. Diddy, whose estimated net worth clocks in at $700 million, New York Daily News reports.
Dre appeared to announce the deal in a Facebook post that went viral on Friday.
A video shows the producer and singer Tyrese celebrating amid claims Dre had inked the multi-billion dollar deal.
“First billionaire in hip-hop, right here on the motherf**king west coast,” Dre said.
Dre launched Beats Music in 2008 with music executive Jimmy Iovine.
The company makes his popular Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.
