Dr. Dre is the year’s richest musician by far, thanks to Apple

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Still D.R.E. Photo: MTV
Still D.R.E. Photo: MTV

How to become the highest paid musician of the year: profit from a multi-billion dollar buyout of your company.

That’s the lesson to be learned from Forbes Magazine’s tally of the top paid musicians of 2014. Dr. Dre, or just “Dre” as he’s affectionately referred to by Tim Cook, amassed a whopping $620 million before taxes this year, giving him “the biggest single-year payday of any musician in history.”

The large bulk of Dre’s cash money obviously came from Apple’s acquisition of Beats for $3.2 billion. The former N.W.A. member hasn’t put an album out since 1999’s 2001, and aside from finding new talent like Kendrick Lamar, he’s been pretty quiet in the music scene for awhile.

To give some perspective on just how much money Dre made in 2014, Forbes awarded second place to Beyonce, who made $115 million off sales of her surprise album, multiple brand endorsements, and a sold-out tour.

This all takes us back to Dre’s celebratory video before the Beats deal had been officially announced. While he’s not quite the “first billionaire in hip-hop” with an estimated net worth of $550 million, he’s on his way.

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