by Tutu Akinlabi

Social media was abuzz yesterday with the news that veteran rapper, Dr. Dre would be Hip hop’s first billionaire.

The rumours were sparked by reports that technology giant, Apple was set to acquire Dre’s headphone business, Beats by Dre for $3.2 billion.

The rapper along with some industry friends, including musician Tyrese, celebrated the news yesterday with a video in which Dre is heard proclaiming himself Hip hop’s first billionaire and Tyrese calls on Forbes to change their recently released list of rap’s richest men.

However, Forbes has responded to the reports by saying that the Apple deal would not make Dre a billionaire, rather his net worth after it would only be $800 million.

According to Zack O’Malley Greenburg:

Dre’s stake in Beats currently stands at somewhere around 20-25%… capital gains taxes could take a bite out of his big payday, likely leaving him with a net worth in the neighborhood of $800 million.

It’s not quite enough to land on the Forbes 400, but it would easily make him hip-hop’s richest man, topping current champion Diddy by $100 million.

So it seems that Dre will not be Hip hop’s first billionaire afterall, or at least not today. But a deal with Apple? That’s definitely something worth celebrating.