Published On:
Fri, Jan 9th, 2015
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine Accused of Cheating Partner Out of Beats
Noel Lee, founder of audio cable maker Monster, is suing Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine for keeping him out of the sweet Beats sale to Apple for $3 billion, according to the Guardian. Noel Lee filed a complaint in California said that the pair convinced him to reduce his stake in the company from 5% to 1.25% and said they weren’t planning on selling Beats for years. Lee had a hand in designing the wildly popular headphones.
Lee said he was asked to sign a deal with smartphone maker HTC in 2011, which ended the Monster partnership. If Lee had kept his stake at 5%, he could have made $150 million from the sale of Beats to Apple. However, he did acknowledged the split was “amicable” when it occurred.