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Dre Beats Suit

Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre speak onstage at WSJ Magazine 2014 Innovator Awards at Museum of Modern Art on November 5, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

A lawsuit is accusing Dr. Dre (pictured right) and record producer Jimmy Iovine (pictured) of bilking their former partner at Beats Electronics before selling to Apple in a $3 billion deal, USA Today reports.

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Noel Lee, CEO of audio tech company Monster, which co-designed the original Beats By Dr. Dre (pictured) headphones, says that Dr. Dre (Andre Young) and Iovine committed fraud in navigating the headphones away from Lee and Monster. Had Lee retained his original 5 percent interest in Beats, his total stake in the Beats-Apple deal would have been worth more than $100 million, the suit alleges.

USA Today reports:

The suit, filed in San Mateo (Calif.) County Superior Court, charges that the Beats co-founders concealed the role of Monster and Lee in designing and engineering the headphone line, as well as educating them about engineering, manufacturing, distributing, and selling the headphones that Monster and Lee invented.

After severing ties with Monster, Beats was purchased by Apple for $3 billion. But as the Beats co-founders made millions, Monster lost millions from its investment in the rise of Beats, the suit charges. Had Lee retained his original 5 percent interest in Beats, his total stake in the Beats-Apple deal would have been worth over $100 million, the suit alleges.

Apple declined to comment on the lawsuit, which seeks punitive damages, the report says.

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Lawsuit Claims Dr. Dre Swindled Partner In Billion Dollar Apple Deal  was originally published on newsone.com