Jimmy Iowen net worth
Split: 19
What is Jimmy Iowen’s net worth?
Jimmy Iovine is an American music producer and entrepreneur with a net worth of US$1 billion. As the co-founder of Interscope Records, Jimmy won his first fortune, especially in the 1990s and 2000s. Thanks to hip-hop artists such as Dr. Dre, Tupac, Snoop Dogg and Eminem, the record was a huge success . Subsequently, he obtained his second fortune as the co-founder of Beats Electronics, which was acquired by Apple for $3 billion in May 2014.
In the Apple transaction, including US$2.6 billion in cash and US$400 million in stocks, both Dr. Dre and Jimmy own 25% of the company’s shares, so each person’s pre-tax income is US$750 million (approximately US$580 million after tax) ). One of the main reasons Apple is interested in this acquisition is to make Jimmy an executive to help them navigate the media world in future music and video licensing deal negotiations.
early life
Jimmy Iovine was born on March 11, 1953 in a Catholic Italian working-class family in Brooklyn, New York. He briefly attended John Jersey College of Criminal Justice, but dropped out at the age of 19 and worked as a janitor at a recording studio called Record Plant Studios in New York City. Through this job, Jimmy was introduced to the world of music production. He quickly transitioned from cleaning the studio to helping with basic production tasks. One of the engineers who showed Jimmy the ropes is Ray Cicala, and he has an impressive list of customers and jobs.
One Easter morning in the early 1970s, Jimmy received a call from Ray asking if he could come to the studio to help an artist. After being warned by his mother not to attend Easter church services, Jimmy rushed to Record Plant Studios, where he quickly learned that this is not just any artist. It’s John Lennon.
success
Feeling that Lennon was struggling with a song called “Stay in the Chair”, Jimmy stepped in and sharpened the song through the engineering booth. The former Beatles were very impressed, and Jimmy will continue to work on Lennon’s two other solo albums.
The collaboration with John Lennon made Jimmy Iowen a star. In the 1970s, he became one of the most popular music producers/engineers. He will continue to produce albums for artists including Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, U2 Stevie Nicks, Simple Minds, Dire Straits, Patti Smith and more.
Some well-known albums produced or designed by Iovine include Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”, Patti Smith “Easter”, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers “Damn the Torpedoes”, Stevie Nicks “Bella Donna”, U2’s “Under a Blood Red” Sky” and Gwen Stefani’s “Love. Angel. Music. Baby”.
Endoscope
In 1990, Iovine and Ted Field co-founded Interscope Records as a joint venture of Warner Music Group’s Atlantic Records. The first version of Interscope was an annoying song “Rico Suave” by Ecuadorian rapper/singer Gerardo. The single was released in December 1990 and ranked second on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart. A few months later, the label released the Primus album “Sailing the Seas of Cheese”. In July 1990, Interscope released the first album “Music for the People” by Marky Mark and Funky Bunch, which became popular due to the number one single “Good Vibrations”.
In 1992, Interscope obtained the exclusive distribution rights for the newly launched brand Death Row Records by Suge Knight and Dr. Dre. Through death row, Interscope finally launched the careers of Snoop Dogg (called Snoop Doggy Dogg at the time), 2Pac, Nate Dogg, and many others. Perhaps more importantly, it was through “Death Row” that Jimmy got in close contact with the producer/artist Dr. Dre.
In 1996, MCA Inc. purchased a 50% stake in Interscope for US$200 million.
In the next two decades, Jimmy and Interscope will collaborate with artists such as Eminem, Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Billie Eilish, Imagine Dragons, Kendrick Lamar, Maroon 5, Selena Gomez and other artists with great success. The company eventually became Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Jimmy has served as chairman of the board since 2001.
(Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images)
Beat Electronics
In the late 1990s, Jimmy understood Napster’s fundamental threat to the music industry. He doesn’t think Napster will disappear, and his reaction to the industry is to sue music users and feel uneasy. So he began to meet with celebrities in science and technology to find a solution to the problem. One of the celebrities he met was Apple founder Steve Jobs, who recently returned as the company’s CEO.
Jimmy’s early insight was that if people stop paying for music, he must find a way to sell something to consumers. It took several years to determine what this meant, and this idea was born thanks to his old friend Dr. Dre. One day, while having lunch together, Jimmy was surprised to find that the audio perfectionist Dre was disturbed by the quality of the music his children heard through the personal audio equipment at the time. This is the spark that prompted Jimmy to sell technology companies to Dre.
In 2006, Jimmy and Dre first founded Beats Electronics in collaboration with component manufacturer Monster Cable. The first product Beats by Dr. Dre Studio created by this collaboration was released in July 2008.
In August 2010, mobile phone manufacturer HTC acquired a 50.1% stake in Beats for US$309 million. In July 2012, HTC sold back half of its shares to Jimmy and Dre for US$150 million. In September 2013, HTC sold the remaining 25% of its shares back to Jimmy and Dre for US$265 million. A month later, the private equity giant The Carlyle Group acquired a 50% stake in Beats for US$500 million, valuing the company at US$1 billion.
Apple acquisition
In May 2014, Apple acquired Beats for $3 billion in cash and stock. In particular, $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in stocks. At the time of the sale, Jimmy and Dre each owned a 25% stake in Beats, so they each earned $650 million in cash and $100 million in Apple stock, which took up to three years to exercise.
At the time of completion of the transaction, the after-tax value of Jimmy and Drey’s cash equity was approximately $435 million. If Jimmy continues to hold their Apple stock for the next six years, their option value will nearly triple to $300 million (before tax).
real estate
Jimmy Iovine’s main residence is a luxury 1.76 acre estate located in the unique Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. In 1998, he bought the land for 7 million U.S. dollars. This land has a lawn almost the size of an NFL football field, which is very suitable because Jimmy likes to play touch football games with friends.
In March 2015, Jimmy bought a mansion in Malibu for US$60 million. The seller is TV producer Marcy Carsey, who is the co-founder of The Carsey-Werner Company, which has produced The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, etc.
