Dr. Dre's Beats Electronics firm in talks for $3.2 billion Apple takeover

Rap mogul Dr. Dre is close to becoming hip-hop's first billionaire after Apple bosses began talks to take over his hugely successful Beats Electronics empire.

Reports suggest the technology giant is keen to buy the music streaming service and audio equipment company, set up by Dre and producer Jimmy Iovine in 2008.

According to Britain's Financial Times, the deal could be worth as much as $3.2 billion, making it Apple's largest ever acquisition.

The publication suggests the takeover could be announced as early as next week (begs12May14).

The rapper fueled the reports by appearing in a video posted by his pal, singer/actor Tyrese Gibson, on Instagram.com on Thursday (08May14), in which he says, "The first billionaire in Hip Hop. Right here from the... West Coast."

If the deal goes through, it will catapult Dre to the top of the hip-hop rich list - last month (Apr14), editors at Forbes ranked him second, with a fortune of $550 million , behind Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who is said to be worth a massive $700 million .