Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine in Talks to Join Apple as 'Special Adviser'

jimmyiovineJust a couple hours after the Financial Times reported that Apple was in talks to acquire Beats Electronics, the New York Post is reporting that Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine is in talks to join Apple as a "special adviser" to Tim Cook on creative matters.

Beats Electronics boss and veteran music industry executive Jimmy Iovine is in talks to join Apple as a “special adviser” to Tim Cook on creative matters, two sources close to talks tell The Post.

Iovine is also the chairman of Universal Music Group's Interscope Geffen A&M music labels, though his contract is set to expire at the end of 2014. However, it's not clear if this is part of the potential purchase of Beats Electronics or separate from that deal.

Iovine has strong contacts in the music industry, allowing Apple to potentially leverage him for potential future negotiations with music labels. This would make him a strong addition even if Apple doesn't purchase Beats.

If Iovine does join Apple, Iovine would be the second high profile executive to join the company after former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts. The Beats CEO also has a history with Apple, having pitched Steve Jobs on a subscription music service and meeting with Apple executives about Beats Music before it launched.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
macOS Tahoe 26 Thumb

Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

Friday December 12, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1. Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft...

Top Rated Comments

unobtainium Avatar
151 months ago
Apple is not full of stupid people. There must be a good reason for this whole deal to be going through. Without knowing all the facts we can just but guess...

It's pretty obvious. Beats must have negotiated a stellar subscription music deal with the record labels (possibly thanks to this dude's contacts in the industry). Apple wants to quickly jump on that ship, so they're snapping up the deals Beats has already signed.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Santabean2000 Avatar
151 months ago
Apple is not full of stupid people. There must be a good reason for this whole deal to be going through. Without knowing all the facts we can just but guess...
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
unobtainium Avatar
151 months ago
I'm not sure how many times this needs to be repeated...

APPLE IS NOT BUYING BEATS FOR ITS HEADPHONES.

APPLE IS NOT BUYING BEATS FOR ITS HEADPHONES.

APPLE IS NOT BUYING BEATS FOR ITS HEADPHONES.

APPLE IS NOT BUYING BEATS FOR ITS HEADPHONES.

Apple needs a Spotify-killer and Beats has a deal with record labels that Apple evidently wants.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DTphonehome Avatar
151 months ago
Hope his first piece of advice is "don't buy Beats." But somehow I doubt it.

----------

Ugh.... what's next, Apple? Gonna hire Dr. Dre too? Ughhhh :(

Haven't you heard? They're hiring a bunch of medical-types for the iWatch. Dr. Dre would be perfect :)
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rgraf77 Avatar
151 months ago
Forget hiring Jimmy Iovine as a special advisor. Apple should hire all these keyboard CEO's and multi-billion dollars business owners that post on Macrumors who know what's best for Apple.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bighype Avatar
151 months ago
Tim Cook is slowly killing Apple. What Ballmer did to Microsoft, that's exactly what Cook's gonna do to Apple in 5 years. Just watch. The man has no vision and is easily swayed by these BS artists.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)