Dr. Dre is one of music’s biggest financial success stories: A few months ago, former Forbes editor Zack O’Malley Greenburg estimated Dre’s net worth is currently at around $400 million, having previously peaked at about $800 million. Now, he apparently has a lot more dough coming his way: Billboard reports the rapper, producer, and businessman is selling some of his royalties and other music assets for over $200 million.
The assets apparently generate around $10 million in annual income and are being acquired in two separate deals by Shamrock Holdings and Universal Music Group, both of which are reportedly near completion.
As for what’s on the table, the assets “include mainly passive income streams,” like Dre’s “royalties from two of his solo albums and his share of N.W.A. artist royalties; his producer royalties; and the writer’s share of his song catalog where he doesn’t own publishing, which may include the writer’s share of songs on his The Chronic album.” Beyond that, there’s also “the ownership of the master recording of his first solo album, The Chronic, which is scheduled to revert from Death Row Entertainment to Dre in August of this year; his share of an Aftermath/Interscope joint venture with the Top Dawg label for Kendrick Lamar releases through that deal; and maybe some publishing, though it’s unclear exactly which portion of his song catalogs is included.”
He’s not getting rid of everything, though, as Dre will retain his ownership stake in his Aftermath record label.